


Two Worlds Collided

by Rays



Series: Into the Given [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, Five and Klaus are twins, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Number Five | The Boy, Sober Klaus Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26851846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rays/pseuds/Rays
Summary: After stopping the apocalypse, the Hargreeves siblings are now being targeted by the Commission. While dodging agents, they must come up with a way to bring the Commission down once and for all. All this while dealing with the fallout of more of Reginald's lies.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Into the Given [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1651621
Comments: 149
Kudos: 309





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here we are at the next installment! Thank you so much to those who read and followed through to continue on the journey! I hope you are enjoying where this is going! 
> 
> If you haven't read Give into the Given you may be a little confused reading this. Though it's not mandatory, I would recommend reading that before proceeding. Though, if you choose not too, totally fine. It should be pretty easy to catch on.
> 
> Thank you all so much for being patient and giving me the space to work. I have a good chunk written and I'm still writing away. I will be posting every other Tuesday so I hope you can mark that down! 
> 
> I want to say a big thank you to saddest-rat for all of your help! I so appreciate you! And also to Fern, your support is amazing!
> 
> Thank you again and enjoy!
> 
> Title from the song: Never Tear Us Apart by INSK

*********************************

“If you crash my car, I swear to god I will kill you,” Five shot Diego a glare, which only seemed to piss him off more. 

“Right,” Five smirked sarcastically. “Because crashing your car was exactly what I was planning on doing.” They passed the turn to Allison’s about a mile back and Five wanted at least another mile without being followed before he would think about turning back.

“I can’t believe I’m letting you drive,” Diego shook his head and pulled his bleeding arm closer to himself. 

“Well, I can’t believe you got shot,” Five snapped. “Thought your reflexes were better than that.”

“I did not get shot,” Diego said defensively. “The bullet just grazed me.” Five frowned at the still bleeding wound on his brother’s arm.

“That’s a lot of blood for a graze,” Diego rolled his eyes. “It would be great if you could hold off bleeding to death until we didn’t have agents wanting to kill you on our tail.” Diego glared at him and was about to respond when Klaus leaned forward between them from the backseat.

“Uh, guys?” he said. “The motorcycle psycho twins are back.” Five glanced in the rearview mirror and bit back a growl. The three of them had been leaving an auction house, checking on a lead on the whereabouts of Reginald’s journal about Vanya when two white motorcycles drove by and started shooting at them. Both riders wore black leather and red helmets. Five didn’t recognize them but was sure neither one was Tex, so their target was Diego.

“Shit,” The word was barely out of his mouth before bullets started pelting the car. “Get down!” he shouted to Klaus and turned his focus on getting the car to go faster. The back window shattered just as Klaus ducked down and Five gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“Hey, that’s my car, you assholes!” Diego yelled as he rolled down his window and tossed a couple of knives that bounced right off the motorcycles. Five looked back again and saw Klaus’s head bob up and down as he tried to stay down but also see what was happening.

“Klaus?” Klaus peaked his face low between the seats. “Think you and Ben can handle this?” A slow smile crept across his face before Klaus nodded.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “We got this.”

“Good, hold on,” Not giving either of his brothers much time after his warning, Five slammed on the breaks. The car came screeching to a halt, Diego screamed out a few choice words regarding his car, and the motorcycles went flying by them. 

Once they came to a full stop, Klaus sat up straight and his fisted hands began to glow. The two assassins had also stopped. Turning, they faced Diego’s car, and just as they were revving up, Ben materialized outside in front of them. Five’s breath got caught in his throat at the sight of his brother. 

Klaus finally conjured Ben two days after Vanya woke up. It was a brief reunion, only lasting fifteen seconds, but it was enough to boost Klaus’s confidence. He worked twice as hard as he had been and they were able to see Ben for longer stretches now two weeks later. Five hadn’t had the chance to have a good one on one talk with Ben yet; everyone wanted to get as much time with him when he was around. Seeing him, though, seeing a real smile on his face, was more than enough to make Five feel like things were almost normal.

In front of the car, Ben flashed them a smile before lifting his shirt and unleashing the Horror. The tentacles flung out and before the assassins could even react, they were scooped up and ripped apart. 

What was left of the bodies fell to the ground and the horror returned to Ben. Just as his body began to flicker out of existence, Ben turned to them, smiling prouder than Five had ever seen after using his powers. He offered a wave and was gone. Five and Diego were silent, eyes still glued on the spot where Ben had been standing and Klaus fell back against the backseat with a laugh.

“Oh my god,” he cackled and Five blinked out of his daze. “We actually did it!” Klaus smiled at where Ben was and Five turned around to face them.

“Nice job Ben,” he said. 

“Ben?” Klaus squawked. “What about me?” Five shook his head and turned to Klaus, who was a little paler than he would have liked him to be, but he was smiling. 

“Nice job Klaus,” 

“Why thank you,” Klaus said, bowing his head dramatically. 

“You know,” Diego said, turning in his seat. “A compliment doesn’t mean anything if you have to ask for it.” Five rolled his eyes and shifted the car into reverse so they could turn around and get back to Allison’s house.

“Oh, screw you,” Klaus snapped. “At least I wasn’t the one who was stupid enough to get shot.” 

“I did not get shot,” Diego said again. “It grazed me!” 

“Oh I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over all that blood.” 

“That’s enough,” Five said before Diego could take this further and glared at Klaus for sticking out his tongue. “Let’s get back to the others.” Diego slumped back forward in his seat and Klaus leaned back victoriously behind them. 

Allison’s house had quickly become their new home. The Academy was officially gone. Reginald didn’t even leave the building or land to any of his children in his will. It was all returned to the city along with most of his money. They were each given a small amount, nothing too crazy but enough to get by on, and that was all he had left for them. 

Except for the vast resources the Academy provided, Five didn’t see this as much of a loss. That place represented all of the neglect and abuse they had gone through their whole lives. It was a constant reminder of all of the lies and manipulations and everything they all wanted to forget. The only good parts that came from their childhood were each other now and they didn’t need the Academy to be a family.

Allison’s house had also become the safest place for them as today had proven. An unknowable amount of highly trained assassins were out to pick them off one by one. So far, and for who knew how long, they had never been attacked in the woods by Allison’s house. Only when they ventured out closer to the city did they seem to be detected by the Commission. Five knew it wouldn’t last, but everyone was staying as confined as possible until he could come up with a solution to take down the Commission once and for all.

When they pulled up to the house, Vanya and Allison were outside on the porch. Passing by one of the windows, Five spotted Luther. Almost sighing with relief, Five turned the car off.

“Oh my god,” Vanya said, rushing forward as the three of them got out of the car. “Are you bleeding?” She stopped just in front of Diego and her hands hovered above his injured arm. Allison took one look at them and then disappeared inside.

“I didn’t get shot,” Diego said. The earlier, more combative tone from his voice melted away when he spoke to her. 

“There’s been a bit of a debate,” Klaus said, casually leaning against the car. Vanya shook her head and carefully began to pull up his sleeve to get a better look. Five didn’t miss the fond smile on Diego’s face as he watched her. Diego had stayed true to his word and had been working on his relationship with Vanya the past two weeks and it seemed they had come to some resolution to all the book drama from before.

“Any luck?” Luther asked, walking out the front door with Allison close behind holding a first aid kit. Luther frowned when he saw Diego. “What happened?” Diego just shook his head with a groan and Allison forced him into one of the chairs on the porch.

“We ran into some trouble,” Five explained. 

“Ben and I took care of it, though,” Klaus said. He walked up and leaned his boney elbow right on Five’s shoulder as he smiled proudly at Luther. “Two of them on motorcycles and Ben ripped them apart with an assist by _moi,_ of course.” Five swatted him away and Luther smiled at Klaus with genuine pride.

“That’s great you guys,” he said and Klaus bounced up the steps of the porch, patting Luther on the back as he passed him before falling into the loveseat by the door. “Another one after Diego?” Luther asked, sitting down next to Klaus.

“They sent two after me this time,” Diego smirked. “I guess they figured out which one of us is the most dangerous.” Allison crouched down to look at his arm with a smirk on her face and Vanya giggled. 

“The journal wasn’t at the auction house,” Five said, trying to get the conversation back on track.

Finding Reginald’s journal about Vanya’s powers proved to be more challenging than they had initially thought it would be. Since it wasn’t one of the items used to kill Harold Jenkins, the police never collected it for evidence. Instead, it ended up in possession of Jenkin’s next of kin, a great aunt who came while they had been waiting for Vanya to wake up and started packing up the house to get rid of everything. They were able to track the aunt down and find out she was selling everything at an auction house in town.

“Are there any other leads on it?” Luther asked.

“The lady gave it to her niece,” Klaus spoke up, kicking his feet lightly at Luther, who didn’t even seem to notice. “She’s probably sold it on eBay by now; all that Umbrella Academy shit ends up there.”

“That journal isn’t just some Umbrella Academy memorabilia,” Diego pointed out.

“Not like she’s going to know that,” Klaus shrugged and Five rolled his eyes.

“She probably doesn’t know she has it yet,” he said. “Look, the old bird gave us an address, so Klaus and I will go tomorrow and we can be done with this.” Klaus perked up at his name, and blinked at Five.

“Uh, excuse me,” he said, raising his hand. “ _Klaus_ doesn’t want to go.” Five snapped his head to Klaus’s smirking face and before he could correct him, Diego spoke up.

“Just how exactly are you planning to get to this woman’s house?” he asked, suppressing a grimace as Allison poured alcohol on his wound. Five glared over at Diego.

“Your car,” he said before turning his attention back to Klaus. “You’re going.” Klaus threw his head back dramatically with a loud groan, Luther tried not to laugh and Diego started to stand up before Allison pushed him back down.

“And who’s going to drive it?” Diego demanded. 

“I am,” Five snapped, glaring at Diego, his patience dwindling. “Klaus, don’t try to get out of this.” Klaus rolled his eyes and Luther leaned forward.

“I could go with you,” he suggested and Klaus threw an arm around Luther’s shoulders.

“Yes, Luther can go with you,” he chirped. “Luther, that is so sweet of you, volunteering to join our dear brother in his search for dad’s journal. So _brave_.” With a clap of his hands, Klaus got up and headed for the door

“Klaus, you’re going,” Five said again. “We’ve talked about this.” Five tried to keep the near panic out of his voice, but he knew after two weeks of trying to keep it in, cracks were starting to show. His family was once again not safe and the world still could end. Five felt like he was right back at square one and his idiot siblings still didn’t seem to respect the danger they were in.

“I wouldn’t say we’ve _talked_ about it,” Klaus said, spinning around. “You demand things and I go along with it for shits and giggles. You’ve dragged me everywhere for the past two weeks. I’m not even that helpful” The others all eyed Five a little suspiciously. 

Five clenched his jaw and he gave them all a warning look. It didn't matter if there was truth in what Klaus said; it wasn’t going to change the fact that Five was not letting him out of his sight. He knew what Tex could do, and he knew how sick and twisted the Commission really was. They knew that tying his fate to Klaus would only hurt him more and Five hated playing right into the games, but he wasn’t about to let them win. 

“Five, seriously I can go,” Luther said again, interrupting his thoughts. “I can even drive.”

“I’m not too thrilled about you driving my car either,” Diego said under his breath and Luther shot him a glare.

“It’s safer for the rest of you to stay here,” Five said slowly, trying to get his temper in check. “Klaus, Tex is one of the best assassins in the Commission; he’s after both of us, do you not underst-.”

“I don’t know if you saw what Ben and I did back there with those guys on the bikes,” Klaus interrupted, stepping closer. “But, I think I can take care of myself.” It had been impressive what Klaus had done, Five couldn’t deny that, but Klaus’s abilities still felt so new and untested, Five couldn’t count on them yet.

“Klaus, that doesn’t matter,” Five insisted. “Just shut the hell up and do this one last thing. It’s just a drive to a farm, what could possibly be so important that you can’t be bothered?” 

“Working on my powers,” Klaus shrugged. “If I recall correctly, you were the one who told me how important that was.” 

“He’s got a point Five,” Diego said, and Five glared at him. 

For the first time in their lives, Klaus was invested in growing his powers. Most of his time now was spent in the backyard with Ben, figuring out all the things they could do. At night, Klaus would often work on summoning ghosts, though he never told them who. Allison was the one to point out that Klaus may have just traded his drug addiction in for a power addiction, but Five saw nothing wrong with dedicating yourself to that. 

Except when Klaus used it as an excuse to _not_ do what Five told him too.

“Klaus,” Five said through clenched teeth. “We’re getting the journal in the morning. Once we have it, there will be no reason to go out again, and you can have all the time you want to work on whatever.” Klaus gave him a long hard look. Five could see his brother searching his eyes and saw the moment Klaus didn’t believe him.

“Can I get that in writing?” he asked. Five clenched his jaw. Why was Klaus such a child sometimes? Five blamed himself for this a little, he shouldn’t be making it such a big deal, that only made Klaus want to push back, but Five knew Tex. He knew that he would take Five’s threat to heart. _I will kill you if you come near my brother._ He’d wait until they are separated to kill Klaus. Five refused to let his guard down.

“No,” He said it more out of spite than anything and Klaus scoffed before turning to go back into the house.

“Well then I’m not going,” he slammed the door and Five started to follow, but Allison grabbed his arm. She smiled at him and motioned him to stay before going inside after him. 

Five shook his head and then sat down in the seat Klaus had vacated and rubbed his eyes. Next to him, Luther leaned forward with a smirk on his face.

“So,” he said to Diego. “How’d you get shot?”

******************************

“Look, I love the little gremlin, you know I do,” Klaus said as he spread out a blanket on the grass beneath the red maple tree near Pogo’s grave. “But even you have to admit that he’s become crazier than normal.” Predictably, Ben looked more annoyed than agreeable as he leaned against the tree trunk and watched Klaus. 

The sun was starting to set, and Klaus had spent his day after the auction house, avoiding his siblings the best he could. It was great that they were all together, even Klaus could admit that, but they had grown up in a house big enough that they were able to put space between them. Allison’s house wasn’t small by any stretch, but it was starting to feel a little suffocating. Especially with Five’s manic brain going into protection overdrive and never giving Klaus a moment of peace.

“There are assassins trying to kill all of you,” Ben pointed out. “I think he has a right to be a little stressed out.” Klaus frowned at the smug look on Ben’s face, always thinking he was right about everything. The people trying to kill them were clearly a bit of a problem, but Klaus still didn’t see why Five had all but handcuffed him to his body.

“Why do you always take his side?” Klaus picked up one of his candles from the bag at his feet and started to attempt to light it despite the strong evening breeze.

“Because he makes a good point,” Ben shrugged. “Are the candles really necessary? It’s not like they enhance your powers.” Klaus scoffed as he tried again to light the candle.

“It is for the _aesthetic_ Benjamin,” he said, “And I don’t care if Five has a good point. He still thinks I can’t handle myself and need a babysitter.” With a frustrated growl, and still no success at lighting the candle, Klaus threw the candle on the ground. 

“Even after today,” Klaus continued. “I mean, we were awesome! I should get some kind of small shred of respect from the others, right?” Ben’s face softened for a moment and he pushed himself off the tree.

“I don’t think that’s what this is about,” he said. “Five was the one to suggest you take out those guys, so don’t project your insecurities onto others who are actually helping you.” Klaus rolled his eyes and sat down on the ground. _Project your insecurities_ ; it was going to be one of _those_ nights.

“Still taking his side, I see,” In a blink, Ben was seated across from him on the blanket. 

“You’re going tomorrow, right?” he asked.

“Of course,” Klaus let out a large sigh and dropped his head back and looked up at the red leaves that almost looked orange in the setting sun. “Honestly, the little psycho might murder me if I don’t.” Ben snorted and Klaus wondered if he knew that he was only half kidding.

“You know I could talk to him,” Ben suggested. “We’re getting better at distance.” 

“Thank you for saying that,” Klaus said, placing a hand over his heart. “Did you see us today? You were outside the car and I was inside!” When he first was able to make Ben corporeal, it was only a few feet. If Klaus moved away or Ben tried to walk too far, Klaus would lose it and Ben would disappear. Each time they could get further apart and today had been the farthest distance, not that his siblings seemed to care.

“We kicked ass,” Ben said, a proud smile on his face. For just a second, Klaus felt his excitement about earlier fade a little. It was strange to him to see Ben so excited about using his powers. The dark look that stayed on his face for days after missions were replaced with a look Klaus was used to seeing on Luther or Five. Then again, Klaus felt more pride and excitement in terms of his own powers. He never thought that would have happened. If only Reginald could see them now.

“So, I could talk to Five sometime?” Klaus blinked out of his thoughts and looked at Ben.

“Yeah, sure,” he shrugged.

“Alone?” 

“Alright, I get it, you like him better than me,” Klaus groaned. He knew manifesting Ben would ultimately lead to this. Ben couldn’t wait to talk to anyone but him. Klaus got it, but it didn’t mean it didn’t piss him off just a little. 

“That’s not-” Ben started to say, but Klaus quickly cut in.

“I’m done talking about Five,” he said and motioned for Ben to get off the blanket. “I have actual work to do, so if you would please give me some space.” 

“You think tonight’s the night?” Ben asked, moving off the blanket and sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Oh yeah baby,” Klaus said, rubbing his hands together, blue already starting to emanate from them and they chilled instantly. “After today, it is definitely happening.” Ben nodded and took a few steps before turning back around. 

“Good luck,” Ben looked hopeful but Klaus could see the small hint of doubt and for a second, those feelings of not wanting to share his brother went instantly away.

“I don’t need luck,” Klaus spat back but Ben was already gone. Klaus shook out his hands and rolled his neck. Letting go of the doubt he’d seen in Ben, Klaus closed his eyes and his mind went to one person.

_Dave._

******************************

In the end, Five had to promise to get Diego’s back window replaced if he wanted to drive his car. It seemed like a fair enough deal and it would keep Diego back at the house and hopefully away from more assassins. It turned out Diego hadn’t been shot, just grazed like he said, but it was too close of a call for Five. He wasn’t going to take another chance so soon.

The house was quiet, aside from the sounds of Luther walking around downstairs as he went through his newly attained late-night habit of checking every door and window before going to sleep. 

Since Vanya had woken up, she and Allison slept in the master bedroom together. Luther took the room downstairs; it let him feel like he was looking out for all of them. Diego had taken the guest room and since no one would bring up the topic of Claire’s room, Five and Klaus shared the office with the pull-out couch. The two of them slept the least out of everyone, and most nights, Klaus passed out in random corners of the house. Tonight, Five had seen him sleeping on the couch in the living room, so at least he was somewhat comfortable.

Five closed the notebook containing all the equations he’d been working on. He felt no closer to figuring out the right equation to take him to Commission headquarters than he did when he first started. There were times he thought he was close, but it would fall apart. 

There was a nagging voice in the back of his mind, one that still sounded annoyingly too much like his father, that there was no point in him trying to get there with his powers. It was twice now. Five time traveled and twice it had gone wrong. First getting stuck and then with his age regression. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was afraid. What if something happened and he had his entire family with him this time? They were finally under one roof and relatively safe; the last thing he wanted was to mess that up for them.

Rubbing his eyes, Five looked at the unmade bed and contemplated on going to sleep. Klaus could wake up from the couch and stumble in at any moment, taking over the bed so Five might as well lay down while he could. He started to stand up when a certain red journal in the open desk drawer caught his eye. 

Five ran his fingers over the rough material of the cover, the _RH_ staring up at him, and thought of the contents of this particular journal. The others didn’t know. _Klaus_ didn’t know. He knew in the back of his mind he should tell him, but Five couldn’t wrap his own head around it. He’d read the journal front to back more than once, he scoured other journals of Reginald’s hoping for an explanation or some reason he would have kept this a secret. He and Klaus were _twins_ and Reginald just hadn’t bothered to tell them.

“Five?” Five almost jumped out of his chair and he slammed the drawer shut before looking up at a confused Vanya in his doorway. “Uh, sorry. Bad time?” Five blinked and then pushed himself away from the desk with a smile.

“No, it’s fine,” he said, standing up. “Just caught me off guard, what’s up?” Vanya hovered in the doorway for a moment longer; she briefly looked to the desk before walking into the room.

“Detective Beeman called while you guys were out,” Explaining to the police what had happened the night of Vanya’s concert had been a difficult balancing act. While Diego had vouched for his Detective friend, Five wasn’t so quick to trust him. Thankfully, he was smart enough to take their half-truths of the situation and kept Vanya from being a suspect. 

“And?” He asked.

“Cha Cha disappeared,” That didn’t surprise him. The Commission didn’t leave their agents locked up like that. Had she been killed on the job, that would have been a different story. Five knew that sooner or later, the Commission would come and deal with her themselves. 

“Well, shit,” Five said, leaning back on his chair. “So, I guess it’s all on Harold Jenkins now.” Five didn’t miss the way Vanya flinched slightly at his name. She still referred to him as Leonard, though she corrected herself, it was clear it was still hard for her to reconcile who she thought she’d known to who he really was.

Thanks to his macabre shrine to the Umbrella Academy, there was more than enough evidence that Harold Jenkins had a motive to target the Hargreeves. While they could have easily turned Vanya, killing him into self-defense, they wanted her powers to be kept as quiet as possible. Since Cha Cha was already being held for the murder of Detective Patch, they told Beeman that she had also killed Jenkins.

“At least Cha Cha won’t be able to deny everything,” Vanya pointed out. “She can’t turn around and put more attention on us.” Five snorted.

“Is that a silver lining?” He asked with a smile.

“We gotta take ‘em when we see them,” she said, with a touch of forced optimism. 

“What’s the next step?”

“He’d like me to come into the station,” Vanya said. “Give a more formal statement.” They had Beeman over to the house the week before. Five still didn’t like the idea of Vanya leaving the house. For her safety and everyone else’s. 

“Alright,” Five said with a sigh. “After Klaus and I get this journal, we’ll set up a time for you to go talk to him.” Vanya nodded, looking away from Five with a familiar look of _burden_ on her face.

“Vanya?” Five asked, leaning forward in his chair. “What is it?” Old habits seemed to be hard to break for Vanya. She still did everything she could to push her thoughts and feelings down. Five knew he didn’t have any room to talk when it came to sharing, but Vanya had almost ended the world, so they all were making it a point to get her to open up.

“It’s about dad’s journal,” She said, twisting her fingers nervously. 

“What about it?”

“You guys are going through a lot of trouble to get it,” she said. “I just am starting to wonder how important it is that we get it?”

“Vanya, everything about your powers is in that,” Five reminded her.

“I know that,” she said quickly. “But, we’ve been working on my powers for a while now, and I really feel like I’m getting a handle on them.” It had taken some prodding, but a few days after waking up, Five convinced Vanya to try her powers again.

Allison found the spot for them, a clearing about a mile from the house and deeper into the woods. It was still on her property and told them that she and Patrick had plans to take Claire camping here and maybe turn it into a place for her to play. For now, it served as a safe place for Vanya to work on her powers.

Harold had hypothesized that her ability was turning sound waves into energy. Five found that rather obvious, but figured Harold must have read that in Reginal’s journal. He also had instructed Vanya on how to hone into one sound and use that for control. If he had learned that much, then who knew what else was in there. What other secrets Reginald could be keeping.

“Vanya, it’s not just about learning about your powers,” Five said, leaning in closer. “You have every right to any information about yourself that Dad has been hiding all these years. Even if it’s something that seems insignificant, you have the right to all those details.” Five’s hands fisted in his lap, his heart started to pound and he tried to ignore the desk drawer in his peripheral vision. Reginald had no right to keep simple information from them any longer. They were getting that journal for Vanya. 

“Five?” Vanya had leaned forward as well and her hand covered one of his. Five watched her fingers curl around his fist and his heart rate slowed back down. He caught the look in Vanya’s eyes, the suspicion that would only lead to her asking questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

“Besides,” he said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, effectively ending their physical contact. “Klaus did bring up a good point. This woman might sell it and it could end up in the wrong hands again. Everyone is safer if we have it.” The last thing they needed was another Harold Jenkins buying that journal off of eBay. 

“I guess,” Vanya said softly. She looked him over one more time before the suspicion melted into concern and she brushed a few stray hairs out of her face. “I just don’t want to be the reason any of you get ki-”

“Hey,” Five leaned forward and swiftly took her hand. “If Dad had been honest with you about your powers, then we wouldn’t be in this situation. None of this is your fault, Vanya.” Five could see the guilt that Vanya draped around herself like a shaw when he looked at her face. He just barely resisted the urge to shake her self worth back into place.

“Just promise to be careful,” She said softly and Five squeezed her hand.

“You should get some sleep,” 

“So should you,” Five smiled and they just sat there, hands still locked together and for a second, it felt like if he squinted, they were kids again. Long before all this mess, like none of it had happened.

Once Vanya left, Five looked to the bed, but the pull of that journal diverted his attention again and he went back to search for answers he knew weren't there.

******************************

_February 27, 1994_

_Day One: Number Four and Five joint sessions to begin testing the biological connection that may exist between their abilities. While no such connection is evident at the time, both subjects started to show their true capabilities within hours of each other. It is my guess as well that the source of their powers might come from the same place. A blue light emanates from their hands when they access their abilities. Something may come of this. Number Four is resistant, however he is more compliant when Number Five is present. While I do not encourage this level of attachment, the fact that they are biological twins may work in my favor. I must monitor this closely, though. I can’t let them become too reliant on each other; such weakness will not be tolerated._

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the comments and kudos! I'm so glad everyone is excited because I'm having so much fun writing this and I can't wait for you all to see where it's going! This series has now expanded to 8 fics, so there is more to come if you are enjoying this universe! 
> 
> A big thank you again to saddest-rat and Fern for all your help!

********************************

Klaus lived his entire life afraid of the ghosts around him. His earliest memories were hands reaching for him and hollow-eyed faces peering down at him. He told his nanny, the last one before Grace showed up, that her grandfather was there, and he knew about the poison in his soup. She left after that and Reginald confronted him about the ghosts and that’s when things got worse for him. Klaus wished his dad didn’t believe him like his siblings, he wanted Reginald to call him a liar and leave him alone. Instead, he got mausoleums and graveyards.

When he was 12, Klaus fell down the stairs and broke his jaw. The pain had been blinding and as Grace wiped his brow, she promised to make it go away. She gave him morphine and an amazing thing happened. For the first time that he could remember, the ghosts disappeared. 

After that, Klaus was rarely sober. His father berated him, called him a disappointment but he didn’t care. His siblings were mad at him because he was virtually useless on missions now and officially was assigned as the lookout. Klaus still didn’t care. The next thing he knew, 17 years passed and Klaus didn’t know how to care about anything. 

That was until Klaus went back in time in a dirty towel and everything he thought he knew got turned upside down. When Dave was around the ghosts were still there; he was in a warzone after all. The love emanating from Dave was enough to keep them away better than the drugs ever had. Klaus found solace and acceptance in a way he would never have expected and he chose to stay in a war he knew they were going to fail to remain near him. 

Now, Dave was gone and Klaus was where he was  _ supposed _ to be. The ghosts were back and he was sober, but he had learned to look them in the eyes now. Klaus could no longer afford to be afraid of them because Dave could somehow be among them. As long as he kept trying, and stayed sober, somehow Dave would find him.

“You’re rather quiet,” Five said, breaking the silence from the driver’s seat. Klaus turned his head away from where it was resting against the window and glared at his brother.

“I’m sorry,” he croaked, his voice still thick with sleep. “I didn’t realize you were expecting to be entertained this early in the morning.” Five had woken him up at the ungodly hour of 5:45, insisting that they leave before the sun could even come up and find this lady who had that stupid journal.

“Oh, I wasn’t complaining,” Five smirked in that smug way he always did when he thought he was funny. Klaus frowned at him and pulled his arms tighter around his chest as he tried to get comfortable in the passenger seat.

“Hilarious,” Klaus scoffed. “Are we almost there?” They had been driving down the same empty road for an hour already and had long since left the woods and were now surrounded by fields. 

“Another 10 minutes,” 

“Why does everywhere we always need to go have to be so far away?” Klaus asked. “Why can’t for once the thing we need just happen to be in our own backyard?” 

“We need to stay as far away from heavily populated areas, Klaus,” Five said with a stern look as if Klaus had asked a serious question. “Between the Commission and Vanya’s unstable powers we-”

“Rhetorical question Five,” Klaus snapped, leaning his head back against the headrest. For a moment it was quiet, just the hum of the engine as they drove. Klaus pulled the sleeves of the long-sleeved shirt he wore down to cover his hands. It was almost May, but early mornings were still cold and Klaus tried to suppress the shiver that went down his spine. Beside him, Five didn’t say anything and Klaus glanced at Ben in the backseat who was looking disapproving as usual.

“How did it go last night?” Five asked, breaking the silence. 

“How did what go?” Five looked away from the road for a second to frown over at Klaus.

“I saw you,” he said. “Outside, it looked like you were trying to summon someone.” No one other than Ben knew about Dave. Diego knew Klaus lost someone but never asked him who he was, so Klaus kept it to himself. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to tell them about Dave and the entire Vietnam trip. 

“Oh, yeah,” Klaus sighed. “It wasn’t much. I was just dicking around, nothing serious.” Behind him, Ben cleared his throat loudly. 

“You could talk to him,” he said through clenched teeth. “Maybe Five has an idea about why it’s been so hard to contact Dave.” Klaus made a face at Ben before turning his attention back to the soybean field they were currently passing. He wasn’t going to ask Five that, asking him meant that he failed and Klaus was not ready to have  _ failed _ Dave again. 

“Why is it so goddamn cold,” Klaus groaned and turned the heat on full, holding his hands to the vents. Five looked at him strangely out of the corner of his eye and Klaus busied himself with getting warmer. 

“It’s not that cold,” 

“Speak for yourself,” Klaus said and fell back against his seat. “Someone left a window open in the living room last night and I slept right underneath it. I haven’t been able to warm up since.” 

“You opened the window,” Ben said, unhelpfully.

“It’ll get warmer as the morning goes on,” Five said, surprisingly gentle. “I’m sure by the time we’re heading back; you’ll be complaining about how hot it is.” 

“He’s got a point,” Ben smirked.

“Alright, Ben,” Klaus snapped. “Your commentary is no longer necessary.” Klaus could feel a headache coming on.

“Ben agrees with me?” Five asked with a smirk.

“Why did we have to leave so early?” Klaus whined, not dignifying Five’s question with an answer. Five didn’t say anything for a minute. Gripping the steering wheel tighter, he looked to Klaus almost nervously.

“I know I’m being overbearing,” Five said suddenly. Klaus blinked; he hadn’t expected Five to say that. Although most of his brother’s emotionally open moments came out of the blue, like Five needed to jump on expressing whatever it was before he locked it away in his little, angry gremlin heart. 

“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Klaus said.

“Klaus, he’s trying,” Ben hissed behind him and Klaus continued to ignore him.

“You just need to understand,” Five said, his eyes straight forward on the road now. “Tex is dangerous; I’m doing this to protect you.” Klaus wanted to point out that he didn’t need Five to protect him, something he’d been trying to say for the past two weeks, but the chill inside him faded a little at Five’s admission and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh, Fivey,” he said. “You know I can’t stay mad at you when you express emotion like an actual adult,” he sighed and Five’s lips quirked up in a quick smile. Klaus uncurled a bit and leaned back in his seat more comfortably.

“I guess I can be a little less bratty,” he admitted. 

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Five said with a shrug and Klaus nodded.

“You’re probably right.” Five smiled at him, an easy smile that was starting to show more and more on the little guy’s face. Maybe coming along hadn’t been the worst thing.

********************************

“So that’s how Vanya got her weird nanny ghost army? Huh, interesting,” Klaus muttered.

Five looked up from Reginald’s journal and frowned at Klaus sitting next to him reading over his shoulder. “That’s your take away?”

Klaus looked mildly offended. “That has been a head-scratcher of mine since I was like, 6,” he said. “Let me bask in the knowledge of where they came from.” 

Five and Klaus were sitting on a bus stop bench outside of the small garage they had found out in the middle of nowhere. Five did promise to fix Diego’s back window and it turned out his car was due for an oil change as well. 

They had successfully retrieved the journal and Five was pouring over every word in it. Reginald had always known what Vanya could do. He pushed her just like the others, but Vanya was the first to fight back, even before Five. In true Reginald fashion, he saw a behavior he found unacceptable and out of his control, so he squashed it instead of understanding what Vanya was capable of. Despite all the many lectors he used to give them about perseverance and striving to push your limits, Reginald didn’t know how to take his own advice.

“Is any of this going to help?” Klaus asked. Five shrugged, he didn’t know.

“It’s better than-” Before Five could finish that sentence the familiar crack of a certain time-traveling briefcase accompanied by a bright blue light interrupted everything. Standing in front of them were two people Five had hoped never to see again.

“Well, what do we have here?” Barney and Newberry were two Commission agents that Five had had more than one run-in with over the years. Like Hazel and Cha Cha, they worked together and seemed to enjoy the job more than most. 

“Number Five, in the flesh,” Newberry said, setting down the briefcase at his feet. “You look a little different than the last time we saw you.” Newberry was tall and very thin. He was somewhere in his 40’s, with blonde hair that he kept swept back. 

“You really must tell us your secret,” Barney said, his usual cocky smile right in place. He was short and stout, probably older than Newberry by 10 years, and his dark hair was streaked with grey. 

“Neither of you has been ordered to kill my brother or me,” Five said. He stood up, shooting a look to Klaus to stay back, and put himself in between them. “I think it will be better for us all if you leave right now.” Barney chuckled and stepped a few paces closer to Five.

“You think we care about  _ assignments _ ,” he snorted. “Thought you would have learned better after that job in Holland in ‘78.” Five almost laughed. Barney looked all too proud of himself about botching up a simple kill order of a nobleman in the late 1800’s, but these two had never been the shed’s sharpest tools. 

“You mean the one where I had to come clean up your mess?” Five asked. “Only thing I learned about you two then was that your incompetence knows no bounds.”

“Interesting,” Newberry said, he stood a few farther back now, closer to the road. “The thing we learned about you is not letting the moment to kill you pass us by again.” Newberry pulled out a gun with an easy smile and pointed right at them and cocked his eyebrow up as if challenging him. Five did  _ not _ want to deal with this right now. 

Jumping over to Newberry, Five had him disarmed in seconds. He dismantled the gun and just as he was about to kick his legs out from under him, the click of another gun spun Five around. Barney smiled at him as he held his gun to Klaus.  _ Shit. _ Five couldn’t believe he had fallen for a stupid trick like that and had left Klaus vulnerable. His powers flared up around his hands, but before he could jump Barney turned to him and fired the gun.

_ “Five! _ ” 

Like he’d been hit by a jolt of electricity, white-hot pain exploded in Five’s arm and he fell to his knees. His vision blurred for a second and he shook his head to try to ease the ringing in his ears. Blood poured down his arm, staining the green shirt Allison had picked out for him. His stomach churned and he swallowed a few times to ease the nausea and tried to assess the damage. It looked like a clean enough shot and it hadn’t hit any bone. 

Barney and Newberry were laughing. It was the first sound Five could hear clearly in those few seconds after getting shot. Barney had his gun pointed back at Klaus, who was as white as a sheet and clenching his fists. Five saw the beginning of the blue light start to form around his brother’s hands and also the tears falling down his face. Like Vanya, and to an extent himself, Klaus’s powers were hindered by his emotional state. It was one of the reasons the drugs and alcohol were so effective. Five trusted his brother, he did, but he couldn’t risk Klaus getting shot if his powers failed him this time.

“Ben,” Five whispered, really hoping Ben was there. “Tell Klaus I’m fine and not to do anything stupid.” Seconds later, relief washed over Klaus’s face and he looked to Five, unclenched his fists, and nodded. 

“We learned a few things about you,” Newberry said, walking up behind him. “Like how your little zappy powers don’t work so good sometimes, like when you’re injured.” Newberry stood over him now, a giant shit-eating grin on his face.

“I wouldn’t believe everything you hear,” Five sneered, pushing himself to his feet. “You could have shot off my arm and I’d still kill you before you even knew it was coming.” 

“You think so?” Newberry laughed and winked over at his partner.

“Want to test how fast you can be?” Barney asked and with a click had his gun pointed at Klaus’s face and his finger went for the trigger.

“No!” Five shouted. He stumbled forward, pushing desperately into the folds of space and as the blue light surrounded him, a gunshot rang out. 

Five collided with a body as he dropped out of his jump and just as he was about to attack, arms wrapped around him. Five pulled back, not even breathing, and looked up at Klaus who looked panicked, but alive. Down at their feet was Barney with a bullet right on the side of his head.

“What the-” Newberry started to say, but after another gunshot, he fell to the ground, dead. Five pushed himself away from Klaus and turned toward where the shots came from. Standing a few feet away from them, Hazel lowered his gun.

“Hey, Old Timer,”

********************************

The last thing Klaus needed to do right now was panic. That was easier said than done when you weren’t digging tweezers in your brother’s arm to pull out a bullet. This was exactly why Klaus had specifically not wanted to come along on the journal retrieval mission. Every time they left Allison’s house, someone tried to kill them, and now they shot Five.  _ Actually _ shot him. 

Five always got away from bullets, that was his best trick to piss off the bad guys when they were kids. Five had been looking at  _ him _ though, he got shot because he was watching out for Klaus. Thinking about that, Klaus’s hands started to shake and Five hissed in pain.

“Shit,” Klaus said, looking at him. “Sorry, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine,” Klaus nodded and took a shuddering breath and willed his hands to stay still. Five was quiet as he watched Klaus for a moment. “I told you I can do that.”

“For the last time, no,” Klaus glared at him. Five had insisted he could take care of his own gunshot wound and Klaus almost had to tackle him to get this far. “You are not digging a bullet out your own arm you crazy psycho. I can fucking do this.” Klaus shook his head and focused back on Five’s arm and tried not to think about how small his brother seemed. Klaus could almost wrap his whole hand around his arm. Had they all really ever been that small?

“Klaus, breathe,” Ben said from where he was hovering. Klaus looked up at him briefly and nodded. It wasn’t like this was the first time he had had to dig a bullet out of someone, but the last time had been in Vietnam and that had ended badly. Five wasn’t that poor kid though, and this was just a shot in the arm. He would be fine, but Klaus would probably see Five getting shot on repeat if he attempted to sleep tonight.

“Got it,” Klaus said, finally pulling out the bullet. Five held out his hand, like the weirdo he was, and Klaus dropped it in his palm. “Trophy?” he asked. Five shrugged and then put it in the pocket of his jeans. For a second, his face had a mischievous edge to it and it reminded Klaus of when they were kids, digging in the dirt and trying to gross out Allison and Vanya.

“I can take it from here,” Five said as he reached for the bottle of peroxide out of the first aid kit they’d found in Diego’s trunk. Klaus grabbed it out of his hand.

“What is your problem?” he asked. “You’re the one hurt here, just stay still.” Klaus poured the peroxide on the wound. He observed Five’s face for any discomfort but he barely even flinched. 

“I’ve taken care of a lot worse on my own,” Five reminded him. “The kinds of things in the apoco-”

“You’re not in the apocalypse any more,” Klaus reminded him sharply as he reached for some gauze. “And those bastards shot you, so just let me take care of it.” Klaus’s hands were shaking again and tears sprung to his eyes as that moment replayed itself in his mind. They  _ fucking shot _ him.

“Klaus,” Klaus looked up at Five again. His expression, like his voice, was softer than it had been before. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let this happen.” Klaus blinked furiously to clear the tears from his eyes and he shook his head. Of course, Five would blame himself.

“Jesus Five, you were the one who got shot,” he muttered and looked back at wrapping the gauze around Five’s tiny arm. “Just shut the fuck up.” Neither of them spoke, even Ben kept his mouth shut and after another minute the crack of Hazel returning snapped their attention to him.

Hazel got rid of the bodies. Klaus had no clue where he took them, but he guessed someone like Hazel would know what to do so he didn’t question it. Hazel stood back from them, a little awkwardly, still dressed in the same suit that Klaus had last seen him in and the briefcase at his side. 

“Are you okay with him here?” Klaus looked up surprised as he finished taping the gauze on Five’s arm. Five actually looked concerned as he eyed Hazel and then looked back to Klaus. “I can get rid of him if he’s making you uncomfortable.”

Five always teetered on that line of being an asshole and being the most emotionally aware person in their family. It was endlessly confusing, but Klaus couldn’t help but to be a little touched that Five would be concerned about him. 

Klaus looked over his shoulder at Hazel, who was patiently waiting for them. The last time Klaus saw him wasn’t one of his greatest memories but it also felt like a lifetime ago. He didn’t feel anything when he looked at his former kidnapper. Not fear or anger, just indifference. Besides, Hazel had given them the guns that cleared Diego’s name and he had just saved their lives.

“It’s okay,” Klaus said with a shrug. “I’m not that fragile Five,” For a second, a strange look passed over Five’s face but Klaus didn’t have time to figure it out before it was gone. Five pushed himself up, pulling his shirt down over his gunshot, and walked over to Hazel. Klaus looked at his hands and realized that they were covered in Five’s blood for the first time.

“Hazel,” Five said as Klaus started to rub his hands up and down his pants to try to rub off the blood. “I thought you were hightailing it out of here with Agnes,” 

“That was our plan,” Hazel said. “We decided to wait and see if the apocalypse was going to happen. When it didn’t we started to make up a new plan; try to figure out where we could go so that the Commission wouldn’t find us.” Five’s blood wasn’t coming off his hands and Klaus wiped them more furiously than before.

“I’m taking it they did?” Five asked and an almost amused look passed between them. Like they had some kind of inside joke and Klaus was on the outside of it. It made him feel irrationally angry and he scrubbed his hands harder down his legs.

“Klaus,” Ben said from where he was standing over Klaus’s shoulder, watching him with worry as he tried to clean his hands. “Diego has wet wipes in his kit.” 

“Oh my god,” Klaus snapped. “Isn’t he just  _ so _ prepared?” Five and Hazel both looked over at him, their conversation stopped and Klaus waved a bloody hand at them and took one of the wet wipes.

“It’s a long story,” Hazel said, still looking at Klaus with apprehension. 

“We have a long drive back,” Five pointed out. “And with my arm and, well, Klaus, we could use a driver.” 

“Hey, I can drive,” Klaus said, tossing the wipe back into the kit. “Remember the ice cream truck?” he directed his grin right at Hazel who looked back at him with an expression that he did remember the ice cream truck very well.

“Yeah,” Five said slowly. “Not something I’d brag about.” Klaus shot him a look and Five responded with a smirk before he tossed the keys to Hazel. “Let's get going.” Without another word, Five got into the passenger's side of the car and Hazel looked at the key in his hand with uncertainty.

“Diego is going to be pissed,” Klaus said, the thought slowly lifting his mood. Ben smiled at him and nodded.

“This should be fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would just like it to be known that I thought up Hazel coming back to help them months before season 2's trailer was even out. The show keeps taking my ideas! I hope you guys liked this chapter, please let me know your thoughts!! I'll be back with the next chapter in two weeks!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all the comments and kudos!! You are all so great!!
> 
> And once again, thank you to Saddest-rat for your help on this chapter, and thank you to Fern for your input and all your amazing support!

***************************

_ February 29th, 1994 _

_ Second training session for Numbers Four and Five: Number Four is still showing resistance to his abilities. It is clear he can see the ghosts, but instead of bringing them forth, he becomes hysterical and even more uncooperative. The boy is weaker than I first believed. Number Five, however, is eager to progress. He shows more natural talent than the rest of the children, but his confidence is boarding on arrogance. This may cause issues in the future if not properly handled. Today I will see if using Number Four will keep him in line. _

***************************

“You don’t think this is going to be a problem?” Five barely suppressed a flinch when Hazel’s voice interrupted the silence that had taken over the car. “I’m probably not someone the rest of your family wants to see.” Looking away from the window, and ignoring the way his arm throbbed, he turned to Hazel’s uncertain expression as they neared closer to Allison’s.

“You did shoot up the house and try to kill them,” Five said with a shrug. “But they know you’ve helped us. If anyone has a reason to object, it’s him.” Five looked back at his brother, who had fallen asleep once Hazel had explained himself. Five felt guilt jolt through him. Maybe he should have just let Klaus stay back and sleep instead of almost getting his head shot off.

“Besides,” Five said, pushing those thoughts away and straightening himself in his seat. “You saved Klaus’s life, so they’ll just have to get over it.” The corners of Hazel’s mouth twitched up into a small smile and he nodded his head Five’s way. Five looked back at Klaus again. He tried to erase the image of the gun pointed at his head out of his mind. 

“Thank you, by the way,” Five said, doing his best to push down the vulnerability he was feeling. “For saving my brother.” He met Hazel’s eyes; briefly, the other man’s smile was a little wider, but otherwise, his face was neutral. 

“You’re welcome,” Silence filled the car again, but now, Five almost felt uncomfortable. 

“So,” he said after a moment. “How’d you finally kill the Handler?”

“Headshot,” Hazel said simply and Five shook his head. 

“Should have known that was what it would take to stop her.” He pointed to the turn that led to Allison’s house and reached behind him to wake up Klaus. 

In hindsight, Five probably should have given his siblings reactions to Hazel more than a passing thought. They were all waiting for them on the porch and when they saw Hazel was driving, Diego and Luther rushed forward, looking ready for a fight. 

Five’s expectations that his siblings would have remembered that Hazel turned against the Commission, in the end, went flying out the door as he stepped out of the car. Five should have remembered that the one thing his siblings did best was going against his expectations.

“What is  _ he _ doing here?” Luther demanded as he came to a stop in front of them. “And what the hell happened to your arm?” Hazel stayed back by the car, waiting for Five for his chance to explain. Klaus walked right around them, offering only a small wave as he went past everyone and sat on the porch’s steps while Allison and Vanya rushed forward as well.

“I got shot,” Five said simply, figuring getting it out of the way up front was the best way to deal with that part. “Hazel is here to help us.” The second part of what he said was lost by everyone talking over each other frantically.

“You got shot?”-“Are you okay?”- “Who the hell shot you?”

“Did you shoot him?” Diego turned the questions to Hazel now. “Did you  _ shoot _ my brother?” Hazel opened his mouth to respond, but Diego rushed forward, ready to attack. Five shook his head and jumped to Hazel’s side.

“Diego, stop,” Five snapped, shoving him a few paces back. “I thought we went over this.  _ Listen _ to what Hazel has to say and if you want to punch him afterward, be my guest, but fucking listen to him first.” Diego straightened himself back up and Luther came to stand at his shoulder. It was almost nice, seeing the two of them united even if it was for an unnecessary reason.

Allison stepped forward, putting herself in front of Vanya as she gave Hazel a stern look. The others had told him about the night Hazel and Cha Cha came to the academy. He knew that Hazel was the one to attack Vanya and his three siblings were all putting as much distance between the two of them as possible. Again, unnecessary, but it was something that made Five realize how far they’ve come. Vanya must have felt it too, Five saw a smile come across her face and she squeezed Luther’s hand.

“We should hear what he has to say,” Vanya said reasonably. “I doubt Five would have brought him here if he was a danger.” Five smiled gratefully at his sister and the others backed off slightly.

“Alright,” Luther said, placing his hand on Vanya’s back. “If he didn’t shoot you, who did?”

“Two Commission agents who I had some past dealings with,” Five explained. Allison frowned and scribbled something on her notepad.

_ “Your old partner?” _

“Not Tex,” he clarified. “I don’t know whose name they had, but they attacked us. Then Hazel showed up and saved Klaus’s life.” All four whipped their heads around to the porch where Klaus was sitting, a little forgotten and quiet. He held up his hello hand and smiled before leaning his head against the railing.

“He also killed the Handler,” Five went on. “He’s on our side.” They all looked at Hazel with varying apprehension levels on their faces, and Five tried to ignore the voice in his head to punch them all. Or rather, just Luther and Diego as they seemed least likely to listen.

“Klaus?” Diego called, keeping an eye on Hazel. “Are you cool with him here?” Klaus honestly looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here and the guilt was back burning Five’s stomach. 

“Oh, completely cool,” Klaus said, the sarcasm light in his voice but still there. “Hanging out with my kidnapper was just how I wanted to spend my day.”

“Klaus,” Five said with a frown. Five meant what he said earlier; if Klaus were even slightly uncomfortable with Hazel being here, he would get rid of him. Five could always deal with Hazel somewhere else, but it would be easier and safer if they could just all get along.

“It’s fine,” Klaus said, more seriously now. “We’re gonna need his help and Hazel isn’t so bad.” He smiled, close to a genuine one and Diego relaxed a little. Allison stepped away from all of them and went to sit with Klaus, taking his hand as she sat down.

“Listen,” Hazel said, finally stepping up to everyone. “I’m not asking to be forgiven for what I did in the past. Like Agnes says, you can’t change the past, you can only take responsibility for it.” Confused looks went around and Diego blinked as recognition flashed across his face.

“Agnes?” he asked. “The woman from Griddy’s?” Hazel nodded and Diego raised his eyebrows. 

“Alright,” Luther said, thankfully getting the conversation back on track. “If you killed the Handler, who’s sending out the orders to kill us?” 

“His name is Charlie,” Hazel explained. “Since I’ve been with the Commission, he’s worked as an analyst, but he’s also the Handler’s brother.” 

“Such nepotism,” Klaus sighed, shaking his head. 

“Pretty much,” Hazel agreed. “A few days after what would have been the apocalypse, Agnes and I were hiding, plotting our next move when Charlie showed up to offer me a deal.”

“Was he mad you killed his sister?” Vanya asked, standing a bit behind Luther. Even though everyone had considerably relaxed, Luther still held his arm out, ready to shield her.

“I thought he would have been,” Hazel shrugged. “Figured he was there to kill me, turns out he wanted to thank me.”

“Thank you?” Luther asked and Hazel nodded.

“With his sister out of the way, he was finally able to move up in the ranks,” None of this surprised Five. He had met Charlie a few times over the years and saw the jealousy gleaming in his eyes whenever The Handler walked by. You could say a lot about how dysfunctional their family was but it didn’t hold a candle to whatever the two of them had going on.

“He’s also decided to make it his mission to succeed where the Handler failed,” Hazel continued. “He told me that if I finished my assignment, Agnes and I were free to go wherever we wanted and never be bothered again.” Five sighed. The perfect solution offered up on a platter; Charlie was falling right into his sister's footsteps. 

“Who’s your assignment?” Diego glared. Hazel pulled an envelope out of his pocket, identical to the one Tex had the night Five spoke to him. Without a word, Hazel passed the envelope to Luther.

“They gave me your name,” he said. Luther opened it and sure enough,  _ Luther Hargreeves _ was printed across the card inside. Beside him, Diego reached for a knife. “I’m not going to kill you; I can promise you that.” Five watched as Luther stared at the card for a moment, his face unreadable before he finally looked and nodded to Hazel.

“I don’t know how long until he gives your name to someone else, though,” Hazel said. “Honestly, the longer this takes, he’s going to go after anyone close to you all.” Five frowned at Hazel; he hadn’t mentioned that in the car.

“What do you mean?” 

“It’s already been two weeks and none of you are dead,” Hazel pointed out. “Having a job that lasts a few days is unusual. The word is, Charlie is starting to get desperate.” Hazel was right. Two weeks on one job was unheard of during his time. Sure, things could happen, integrations sometimes lasted days, but two weeks? By looking at Hazel’s face, he knew the same as Five; someone would have to intervene to make that happen.

“Who would he go after?” Vanya asked, her voice quiet as she must have been thinking what they all were thinking. It wasn’t like they had a lot of friends and other relatives, except for one.

“Claire,” Five said and Hazel nodded. A strangled, garbled shout came from behind them and Allison rushed forward with Klaus trailing after. Anger and panic were flashing across her face and she pushed Diego aside when he tried to grab her arm. Her hand shook as she scribbled a note for Hazel.

_ “How do we stop him?” _

“There’s a group that is forming back at headquarters,” Hazel told her quickly. “People are tired of how things have been running for a long time. The apocalypse almost happening was the final straw and they’re ready to fight back.” Allison stepped back, the anger fading from her face for a moment as she leaned into Klaus, who wrapped his arm around her.

“We also have access to a briefcase,” Five pointed out, wanting to give Allison a little hope. “Which means I no longer have to use my powers to get us there and that saves us potentially another 45 years.” Luther frowned at him.

“You never said it was going to take  _ that _ long,” Five rolled his eyes and Diego stepped up to Hazel.

“How do we know we can trust you?” He asked, his hands still close to his knives. “You  _ say _ you won’t kill Luther and you  _ say _ they might go after Claire, but how can we be sure you’re actually helping us?” The others looked to Hazel, all with the same questioning look. 

“I don’t know if I can make you trust me,” Hazel said with a sigh. “I get that is something I have to earn, but I have more to lose than gain if you’re all killed and the world ends. Charlie may have hated his sister, but I know he has no intention of actually letting Agnes and me out of this alive.” Five thought about Tex. If only he understood that as well. Though he probably did, Tex had been trying for so long, probably as long as Five waited to save his family. Tex was desperate and Five couldn’t find it in him anymore to fault him on that.

“If they find out I’m helping you,” Hazel continued. “They’ll most likely kill Agnes and me. You guys are actually my only hope.” Klaus let out a breathy laugh, but no one else said anything. Luther looked to Five. It was his call, it was now _ always _ Five’s call.

“We’re in,” Five said, glancing at siblings. “What do we need to do?”

“I’m going to meet with the group who are taking down the Commission,” Hazel said, picking up his briefcase. “From what I hear, they have a plan. They’ll be glad to know you are all helping us.” 

“Great,” Five said, stepping forward to Hazel. “Then we’ll be in touch.” Hazel nodded and his eyes traveled over to Allison and he smiled at her almost regretfully. 

“We’ll be in touch,” Hazel opened the briefcase and was gone in an instant. For a minute, everyone just stood there silently. Five looked to Allison and he couldn’t believe he had been so naive to not think about Claire and her safely. Of course, the Commission would target her.

_ “I need to talk to Claire,” _ Allison scribbled on her notepad.

“You should,” Five said, stepping over to her. “You should warn Patrick, maybe take her someplace where she can be safe.” Allison already contacted Patrick once. Right after Vanya woke up, Allison insisted on telling Patrick about her voice. Diego was the one who made the call, seeing as he was the only one who had ever met Patrick and told him that Allison had been in an accident. They kept it simple, not going into full detail, but enough that Patrick agreed to temporarily halt the custody hearings. 

“Come on,” Luther said gently. “Let’s go call him.” Allison nodded and quickly headed back to the house with Luther, Vanya and Klaus following close behind. Five looked at Diego, who still looked like he wanted to punch someone.

“This just keeps getting more fucked up,” Diego said, softer than Five expected.

“Yeah,” he agreed. They were both quiet for a moment, neither moving to head inside, then Diego reached over and gently grabbed Five’s wrist.

“You okay?” he asked, examining his arm. 

“It’s fine,” Five said, letting his brother look it over for a few seconds before pulling his arm back. “Klaus took care of it.” Diego nodded and looked like he was about to go inside with the others but then turned to Five with a smirk.

“So, you got shot?” Five glared at him. 

“Fuck off,” he snapped and moved past him to go inside. 

“Thought your reflexes were better than that,” Diego called out and Five slammed the door in his face.

***************************

Tex used to love to travel. Long ago, back before his name was Tex, he saw himself as a nomad. He traveled the world with only a bag of extra socks and a few good books to read. The world was open for him and had everything to offer, unlike the small town outside of Dallas where he grew up. Out in the world, he could be himself, explore places he once read about in books and had no expectations to live up to but his own. 

Traveling was how he met Marion. They wound up at the same hostel in a quiet town near Venice. She had the same wanderlust as he did and an even larger desire to live every second like it was her last. Marion was the kind of woman who drew you in and left you consumed by this otherworldly presence that seemed to follow her around. It always seemed like Marion was running from something, but she insisted she had been running to him her entire life.

Tex’s heart still ached when he thought of her. Even after all these years, her sea-green eyes and infectious laugh followed him wherever he went. She was a shadow that was waiting for him to fix this. Go back and save them so they could all live the life they had planned for their boys. So much they had planned.

A sharp knock at the door interrupted Tex’s thoughts. He was in yet another motel, this one smaller than the last. There was a twin-sized bed next to a nightstand with a half torn apart bible. By the window was a table that wobbled and needed to lean against the wall so it wouldn’t fall with no chair. In a corner was a mini-fridge that smelled like it hadn’t worked since the late 2000s and a hot plate that smelled like burnt flesh when he turned it on. 

“Housekeeping!” An exaggerated, high pitched voice said from behind the still closed door. Tex closed his eyes and pushed down all his feelings about Marion before he crossed the room to open the door. “Did I trick you?” Charlie grinned as he walked into the room. 

Tex had known Charlie for as long as he’d been with the Commission. Unlike some agents, Tex spent some time in a few different factions of the organization. The Handler felt like he was someone who would benefit from cross-training. So for some time, he worked with Charlie as an analyst back at Headquarters.

Charlie had not aged a day since they met. Tex had been young then, only 25, and even then Charlie had seemed young. He was average height, though he wore stilted shoes that gave him an inch or two. He had golden blonde hair that he kept swept up on the top of his head and his dark brown eyes stood out against his fair-skinned babyface. He was lean, almost skinny, and always wore an impeccable three-piece suit that never had a speck of anything on it or a button not shined.

Like Marion, he too was otherworldly. Though his heart was missing anything good; Charlie was aware of how inviting he came off and exploited that every chance he got. Tex learned long ago, you keep Charlie placated and at arm’s length, or you are pulled into his black hole.

“Why are you here?” Tex asked as Charlie plopped onto the bed, frowning at the way it squeaked.

“Just thought I’d drop in and see how you were doing,” he said in his airy, lilted voice. “Making any progress on your assignment?” Charlie crossed his legs and smiled.

“It’s been a little slow going,” Tex said, moving to lean against the mini-fridge, “The Hargreeves are more difficult to find than I think we all estimated.” Charlie frowned at him and leaned forward.

“That seems to be the general consensus,” he said. “It’s strange, isn’t it?” Charlie stood up from the bed and moved over to the window, peeking behind the curtain.

“You’ve never given Number Five any credit,” Tex said. “He knows how to hide.” 

“He sure does,” Charlie said, leaning his shoulder against the wall next to Tex as he grinned. “You taught him very well.” Tex nodded curtly and clenched his jaw in an attempt to keep his face neutral.

“I did what was asked of me.” That was all he had ever done since the Handler approached him in a graveyard one cold, autumn afternoon. Do what they asked and he could get his family back. Even when he knew she was lying, he still did everything they asked. Charlie was his last hope, and that made him hate the man even more.

“Except kill Number Five and his junkie twin,” Charlie reminded him, stepping away from the wall. “That seemed like an easy enough request, did it not?” 

“I’ll find them,” Tex promised, but Charlie looked skeptical.

“I know it can’t be easy; he was your partner,” he said slowly and stepped towards him. “But to finally save your  _ family _ , it requires something big from you.” Charlie smiled slowly and Tex felt his stomach churn.

“I understand,” he said and Charlie clapped him on the shoulder.

“Excellent!” he exclaimed and walked over to the door. “Then it’s settled, you kill those two in the next 72 hours, or you get to go back to  _ The Box _ .” Tex’s blood turned cold as he glared at Charlie.

“You said I would never have to go back there.” Every muscle in his body tensed and the walls seemed to jump towards him as the air sealed into his chest. After what he had done to get out of there, what he had  _ sacrificed, _ going back--he was never going back.

“And you said you could do this job.” The brightness was gone from Charlie’s voice and his eyes turned cold as he opened the door. “72 hours Tex, get it done.” With that, he was gone and Tex was again alone in his pathetic motel room.

Tex used to love to travel, he was sure of that, even though it was buried deep under the layers of guilt, shame, and resentment that the Commission piled over him through the years. One day, when he made it back to Marion, they would take their boys on a trip around the world. They would go so far that no one would ever be able to find them again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter Tex! Hope you guys liked this chapter! Things are about to really get going now so I hope you're ready!! Please let me know what you think and I'll be back with the next chapter in 2 weeks!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guy so much for all the comments and kudos! They warm my heart!! 
> 
> Big thank you to Fern for your help and support!!!

*********************************

Klaus left the Academy when he was 18. Actually, he was  _ asked _ to leave when he was 18. Reginald found no more use of him and concluded that the Umbrella Academy would succeed just fine without him since he hadn’t been sober enough to go on a mission in months. One day, Klaus woke up next to Reginald, handing him a bag Grace had packed and a lecture about his  _ wasted potential. _ Luther, the only one still left at home, walked him to the bus stop. Without saying much, he shoved $40 into Klaus’s hand, all the money he had, and hurried off, leaving Klaus on his own.

Diego was the first to leave, not including Five. He left in a cloud of anger and resentment, fighting with Luther and Reginald practically until he was out the door. Klaus watched him go, perched above all the action near Grace’s charging station, and tried to ignore the feelings of betrayal in his gut. The two of them had always been close, yet Diego didn’t even look his way as he stormed out the door.

Klaus didn’t realize Vanya had left for almost a week. A few weeks after Diego’s dramatic exit, Vanya slipped out in the middle of the night, leaving only a note to Grace. Klaus had been experimenting with LSD at the time and didn’t leave his room for three days. When he finally did, he stumbled upon Luther and Allison having a rare fight and an empty bedroom next to his. He tore the wall down a week later when he was high on speed. Ben thought it was selfish of him, but Klaus didn’t care.

Allison was the only one to tell him goodbye. She appeared in his doorway one afternoon with a fancy new coat and a suitcase at her feet. She was off to Hollywood to prove to Reginald that she didn’t have to be a crime fighter and her talents were appreciated elsewhere. Klaus wanted her to stay. He didn’t think he could survive in this hell hole without her. Instead of telling her that, he hugged her and made her promise to get him Brad Pitt’s autograph.

Klaus heard about Luther going to the moon on the nightly news. There was a small TV at the bar Klaus frequented. The owner was a fan, and as long as Klaus listened to him talk about the comics, he could get free drinks. One night, three drinks in, Luther’s face popped up on the black and white TV screen at the end of the bar. Klaus held up his glass in salute to his brother. It was about time he got out of that house. 

It was at that same bar, and from that same TV, Klaus learned he was an uncle. While trying to chat up some guy with a dragon tattoo, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

_ “Isn’t that, your sister?” _ Sure enough, Allison’s face was plastered all over the screen with the joyous news that she’d given birth to a baby girl. Klaus hadn’t even known she was pregnant. He wasn’t even sure if she was married. She was even more beautiful than he remembered, though, and it hurt inside that she was so much of a stranger to him now. Klaus got up on top of the bar and raised his glass to everyone gathered around.

_ “To my niece,” _ he declared.  _ “May she be lucky enough never to meet me.” _

Now, years later, Klaus had still never met his niece, and, with the possible threat of the Commission, he feared he might never get the chance.

After Hazel’s exit, Vanya called Patrick and explained the situation, that his daughter’s life might be in danger. Patrick agreed to take Claire to his parent’s house, which was only a few hours away from where they were, but he wanted them all to stay away. Allison was angry, but Five agreed that Claire would be safer away from them for the time being. Klaus stayed silent on the couch during all this; his nerves from earlier still felt too raw and watching Allison try to hold back her panic and anger only made Klaus’s skin crawl more. 

Klaus couldn’t imagine having a kid. What the hell had his sister been thinking? Not only did you have this drooling, crying, shit monster taking over every aspect of your life, but you had to deal with the worry of your shit monster dying? Outside of his siblings, the only person Klaus ever cared about in any real way was Dave. His death, only barely a month ago for Klaus, was still such an all-consuming kind of pain that he couldn’t bear to think what Allison must be feeling.

“Alright,” Five said, stepping into the middle of the living room where they’d all gathered after the phone call with Patrick. “I know these last few weeks have been hectic, but we have a good lead now. Hazel is going to get us into Commission headquarters and we can finally end this thing.” Five looked over at Allison, perched on the arm of a chair, chewing on her thumbnail; an old habit Klaus recognized from childhood he hadn’t realized she still did.

“This will be over long before anyone goes after Claire,” Five said sternly. “She’s safe and if Patrick still doesn’t want you to see her when this is done, then I think I’ll have a little chat with him and change his mind.” Allison softened at that. Her hand dropped to her lap and she nodded. Vanya came up next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “Me too,” Allison finally smiled at that and leaned against Vanya.

“What we need to do while we wait for Hazel,” Five continued, turning his gaze to Vanya. “Get things settled with the police.” Vanya’s body tensed, but her face stayed calm and she nodded, her arm tightened around Allison a little. 

“Don’t worry Vanny,” Klaus said, leaning forward from his spot on the couch. “I’ve been plenty of times, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” Klaus didn’t miss the side glance Diego was giving him from the other side of the couch. He'd been the one who ended up bailing Klaus out of that same police station on more than one occasion. 

“Thanks, Klaus,” Vanya said, smiling but not looking as reassured as Klaus hoped she would be. 

“I’m going with you,” Diego said. “They’ll know not to pull anything stupid if they see me.” Klaus rolled his eyes and Luther snorted from where he sat across the room.

“Such a tough guy,” Klaus cooed and even though Diego looked annoyed, Vanya smiled even wider.

“Great,” Five said, rubbing his hands together. “Be ready to leave by 8.” Allison took that as her cue to leave. She rushed off up the stairs with Vanya close behind. Luther disappeared as well, into the kitchen with promises of sandwiches for all. Diego stayed where he was, leaning back on the couch cushion next to Klaus with no indication that he was going to move. 

Five stood in the same spot for a few moments. Klaus didn’t miss the pinched expression on his face, or the way his injured arm was stiff at his side. Five took a deep breath, one that he was trying to hide, before making his way over to the stairs. Klaus sunk back further into the couch cushion, his stomach twisting with guilt. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that if Five hadn’t been so focused on keeping  _ Klaus _ safe, he wouldn’t have gotten shot.

“Klaus,” Five called, from his tone it wasn’t the first time. Even Diego was looking at him sideways.

“What?” he asked quickly, pushing himself back up.

“You’re going with us tomorrow,” Five said sternly. “Be ready by 8.” He started to go up the stairs but Klaus wasn’t about to let him get away that fast.

“What?!” Klaus squeaked, sitting forward. “Why do I have to go? Vanya’s the one in trouble!” Five already told him that after getting this journal, their little adventures would stop. After what happened today, going out where Commission agents were probably waiting for them was something he wanted to avoid. The last thing they needed was Five getting killed throwing himself in front of Klaus, who could be sitting safely at home instead.

“Klaus,” Five said through clenched teeth. “I’ve already told you, it’s safest for you and me to stay together.” 

“Right,” Klaus scoffed. “Because you getting shot was so safe.” Klaus expected a retort of some kind. More demands and belittling, but instead Five just shook his head. His face was pale, sweat breaking out onto his brow; he suddenly looked his age despite his small body. 

“You’re going Klaus,” Then, he was gone in a flash of blue light. 

“Well,” Diego said after a moment. “On the bright side, it looks like he’s starting to lose some steam, you might have almost broken him,” Diego smirked but Klaus felt even more guilty now. He flopped back against the cushions with a long sigh and tried to block out the memory of Five’s open sincerity earlier about wanting to keep him safe. 

“I’m not the only one who thinks he’s being a little much right?” he asked.

“No,” Diego said. “But he has a reason too.” Right. Commission agents trying to kill them. Five’s ultimate pass at being crazy. 

“You should let me talk to him!” Ben said, from where he stood at the bottom of the stairs.

“What? Now?” Ben nodded, walking over to Klaus.

“You haven’t used your powers all day,” he pointed out. “You’re all juiced up, and I can talk to him about you not going tomorrow.” Klaus perked up at that, a smile spread across his face.

“Oh Benny,” he said. “I love it when you talk about my juices.”

“Do I even want to know what you two are talking about?” Diego asked, shooting a glare Klaus’s way.

“Get your head out of the gutter,” Klaus rolled his eyes. “Ben wants to talk to Five. Alone.” Diego’s eyes widened and he sat forward, looking over where he thought Ben was. 

“You can do that?” 

“It’s a working theory,” Klaus shrugged. 

“And  _ Five _ gets to be the one you guys test it out on?” Ben looked almost surprised by the hurt on Diego’s face. 

Sometimes, Klaus thought Ben interpreted their siblings' disbelief that Ben was still around to meaning they didn’t miss him. Klaus knew that was the farthest thing from the truth. Out of all of their siblings, Diego probably had the hardest time with Ben’s death. It was something that ate at all of them, but it had been the final straw for Diego. It had been the thing that ultimately led to him storming out of the Academy one day, without ever looking back.

“Don’t worry,” Klaus said, with a wave of his hands. “You’ll all get your chance. Now, Ben, get up there and get me out of going to the police station, or the next person you get to spend time with is Luther.” 

“Well, jokes on you,” Ben said with a smirk. “I  _ miss _ Luther.” Klaus snorted and Ben disappeared. Klaus tucked his legs under himself and got comfortable as he pulled his hands into a fist and rested them on his knees.

For his entire life, Klaus has felt this pull inside of him. Like cold fingers, trailing through his veins; teasing and taunting him to let it pull him away from the warm light of the living. Everything he had ever done had been to deny that pull. It didn't matter how many times Reginald would try to scare him into submission, the threat of the pull was always greater than what the old man would throw at him. He may have been running from his problems, but Klaus was just running for his life.

Klaus let his head fall back as he felt that pull inside of him now. It was good that Reginald was dead, for more reasons than this particular one, but Klaus was grateful that he would never have to see the sick satisfaction on Sir Reginald’s face when he learned that Klaus was finally giving in to that pull and was learning to control it.

A chill went down his spine as he fully accessed his ability. Klaus’s body always ran a little colder than the others, but he felt even colder when he used his powers. Unless he had discovered, when he made Ben visible. His hands, usually so cold they felt frosted over, would burn hotter as the light seeping between his fingers grew brighter. He wasn’t sure what this meant, but he knew the ghosts around him understood more than he did.

The blue light coming from his hands finally peaked, and Klaus could feel the moment Ben became visible upstairs. Klaus could relax slightly. Now he just had to maintain this current level of control long enough for Ben to get him a get out of jail free card.

_ “Klaus. Klaus. Klaus. Klaus.” _

Klaus shut his eyes tightly against the howls of the ghost that were always just on the edge of his vision. At first, being sober had made all of them so much  _ louder. _ He could no longer slip under the warmth of his high to hide from them, they were right there demanding his attention. He found though, the more he started to take control over his powers, the easier it was to ignore their shouts.  _ You will only be able to control the spirits once you learn to control your abilities, Number Four. _ Klaus lost count of how many times Reginald had told that over the years, and even if he knew it now, he still refused to say his father was right.

_ “Klaus. Help us, Klaus. Why him Klaus? Let us out Klaus!” _

Despite the control Klaus was finding, the times when he would directly access his powers was when the ghost gained some kind of upper hand. Klaus was a beacon for the dead and when he gave into that, he only shines brighter. It was when he was like this, they surged towards him, coming from all sides and into the room with him now. Clawing at him, screaming in his face, all wanting their chance to get closer to the living world. Klaus could feel them licking at his body, scratching and spitting into his face, he flinched away and tried to block them out so he could concentrate

_ “Klaus. Klaus. Klaus!” _

The soft weight of something going across his lap gave Klaus something to focus on. Not letting go of the hold he had on Ben, Klaus looked over at Diego who was draping a blanket over his lap.

“You okay?” 

“Oh yeah,” Klaus said, his voice coming out high and breathy. “Just fine. It seems everyone is just a tad bit jealous of our dear Ben.” Klaus tried to smile, but  _ fuck _ , he just didn’t want too. Today had felt like too much, and the ghosts screaming were just barely blocking out the sound of war in his mind. It was a kind of day that made him want to get high and never come down.

All of Klaus’s thoughts were drowned out suddenly by loud electric guitars and synthesized drums coming from the little radio next to Diego. Klaus looked over at his brother as he flipped through a magazine. Diego didn’t say anything and Klaus smiled as the ghosts screams were replaced with 80’s heavy metal.

*********************************

It wasn’t even noon and the day had almost gone to shit. Five closed eyes against the headache that was growing stronger with each passing minute. His arm throbbed and he was considering taking something for the pain, but he couldn’t remember where Allison had hidden the hard stuff and he wasn’t about to ask. Allison didn’t need to be worrying about him anyway.

_ Claire. _

Five wanted to kick himself for not thinking about Claire. Of course the Commission would think to target her. Even if the hit hadn’t been put out, it was exactly the type of bullshit they would play. Just like sending his ex-partner to kill Five and the twin brother he didn’t realize he had. Five slumped down in the desk chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. The Commission knew about him and Klaus, they knew about Claire, what  _ else _ could they know?

Shaking his head, Five opened the notebook he’d been working on earlier. They had a briefcase and that changed everything. That was what Five needed to focus on. He needed to focus on that, because if he didn’t, he might start focusing on other things. Like the fact that he may have unintentionally put his own niece in danger. Or the fact that he had no idea how they were supposed to take down the Commission in the first place.

He didn’t need to think about the fact that he basically had no plan, no idea what he needed to do next. He hated this feeling, having to wait here while Hazel came back with a plan from a group of people Five hadn’t even known existed until yesterday.

Closing his eyes against the swelling panic, Five’s hands tightened around the notebook. Had he made a mistake? Could he really trust Hazel with his  _ family? _ He had trusted the Handler once and that had all gone to shit. How could he be so stupid? How could he have never learned? How could...how could he  _ possibly _ \-- for just a second, just a moment, Five thought he could smell smoke, and his lungs constricted painfully against it.

_ “Your lungs still work Five,” _ Dolores’s voice filtered through the static and it was enough for him to take a breath.

_ “It’s different now,” _ she would have told him.  _ “You have the briefcase, the hard part of time travel is over.” _ Five nodded, she was right.

They had the briefcase and that gave them more of an advantage than before. He didn’t know if he could trust Hazel and the resistance group he’d found, but Five had to try. He took another breath and shifted his focus back to that. Not on anything else.

Not on the fact that there were still people trying to kill his family. Not that at any second, Vanya could get upset and end the world. Definitely not on the fact that Klaus had been held at gunpoint just an hour ago and if not for Hazel-

“Five?” The notebook dropped out of his hands at the familiar sound of Ben’s voice. 

Standing in the doorway was the blue, translucent body of his brother. His face was older from when Five left, but more youthful than the rest of their siblings. A sickening reminder that Ben died much too young. The leather jacket was something he never would have expected his quiet brother to wear, but Five had also never seen him in something other than his uniform. Ben had also shot up around 8 inches since they’d been children. Five wondered when that happened, Ben used to worry he would never grow.

“Ben,” Five looked past him at the doorway expecting to see Klaus, but Ben appeared to be alone. “What’s going on? Where’s Klaus?” The pain in his arm forgotten, Five moved across the room with his notebook back in hand.

“He’s downstairs,” Ben explained. “We’re trying to see how long we can do this.” Five’s brain started churning before Ben even finished speaking and he fumbled a bit grabbing for his pen.

“How long has it been?” he asked, already jotting down equations. 

“Just now,” Ben shrugged. “Listen, Five?”

“Klaus is where?” Five asked, hardley registering Ben. “Is he still in the living room?”

“Yeah, but Five-”

“This room is at the opposite end of the living room,” Five said, excitement growing in his chest. “How long does Klaus think he can hold this?” 

“I don’t really know,” Ben shrugged. “But Five-”

“Judging by the other night when he conjured you at dinner,” Five said as he started to pace the room, turning completely away from Ben now. “I think I can come up with a rough estimate how long this might be possible for.” Five’s heart started to race and his mind moved faster than his pen. He hadn’t thought Klaus could get this kind of sustained distance quite yet. Five’s estimations must have been off from the last training session and he felt like he needed to do cartwheels right now to fix the numbers.

“Maybe we should move this outside,” Five said, finally looking up at the annoyed expression on Ben’s face. “We can see exactly how far you can go until-” In the blink of an eye, Ben was standing directly in front of Five. 

A few inches taller, Five had to look up at the ghostly imagine of his brother’s once so recognizable face. His arms exploded with goosebumps as he felt a chill coming off of Ben’s form standing this close to him. When they had been children, sitting back to back as they read their books, Five had always been comforted by the solid, warm weight of Ben gently breathing against his back. An ache went through Five’s chest as it dawned on him how cold and untouchable Ben now actually was.

“Will you just shut up?” Ben asked, his strange eyes peering down into Five’s. “I don’t know how much time we have, but I needed to talk to you alone.” 

“Shit,” Ben was right, Klaus wouldn’t be able to hold this forever and there was so much Five wanted to say. He’d planned his apology for decades and now faced with his opportunity, Five’s mind was blank. “Ben, listen-”

“There’s not enough time,” Ben cut him off. “I know.”

”No, I have to-,” Five said, stumbling a bit over his words in his growing panic. “I just-you need to know, that day I left-”

“Five!” Ben shouted.  _ “I know”  _ Ben said it so clearly, as if Five should know what he was talking about. There was a time when Five could almost read Ben’s mind. He never needed to say much for Five to understand him. Now Five could only stare at him blankly.

“I don’t know...” he mumbled as he tried in vain to read his face. Five couldn’t help but be distracted by the way he could see right through Ben and to the wall on the other side.

“About Klaus,” Five blinked.  _ Klaus? _ “He’s your  _ twin _ , Five!” All the air seemed to be sucked out of the room and for a second, Five could only gape at the hard look on Ben’s face. 

_ Ben knew. _

Ben had never looked at Five with this expression before. This angry, cold death stare that rivaled their father _.  _ Ben had been quiet as a child. He preferred to read than play the games the others did. He didn’t have the competitive nature like Luther, Five, and Diego. He didn’t seek attention the way Allison and Klaus did. He was the calm in the storm that was the Umbrella Academy.

Now, even if Five couldn’t see his brother clearly, Ben was no longer the calm eye of the storm, he  _ was _ the storm. Looking up at the rage in Ben’s eyes, Five couldn’t help but wonder if Ben had shown this ire, this intensity, in their last conversation so many years ago, would it have made a difference? Would Five have listened? 

“What are you-” Five started to say, ready to deny everything in his haze of confusion, but Ben pushed on, coming even closer to him. Five stepped backwards, his heart speeding up as he glanced to the door. Holding his breath, he strained to hear over the roaring in his ears if anyone was out in the hall.

“How the fuck have you not told him?” Ben asked. The expression on his face, now that Five had an even closer view of it, wasn’t just angry, but disappointed.

He was  _ disappointed _ in Five, and Five felt it like a thick wave. It filled up the air around them and left Five drowning in Ben's anger and his own shame, choking on it as he fought against the sensation of ash coating his throat.

“How did you-” he tried, failing again to get out more than a few words before Ben cut him off.

“That night at the gas station,” he said, crossing his arms. “I followed you when you talked to Tex. I heard everything.” The night flashed across Five’s mind. The cold, sickening feeling of fear that he felt that night slipped into his chest. Ben had been there? Why hadn’t he thought to tell Ben to stay in the store? 

“You don’t think Klaus has the right to know something like that?” Ben continued when it was clear that Five wasn't going to speak. “I fucking bet you  _ damn _ well are pissed at Dad for not saying anything, and then you do the same thing to him? What the hell Five?” 

Numbly, Five shook his head. He wasn’t like Reginald. He would never be like their father. Not telling Klaus was practical, there was no point in bringing it up when there were more important things to deal with. Didn’t Ben understand that? Five tried again to tell him this, but Ben pushed on, eyes now shining with tears. Five didn’t know that ghosts could shed tears.

“God Five,” Ben shook his head. “You even told him to kill you instead.” 

_ ‘How about, I warn my family and you kill me?’ _ Ben had heard that as well? The cold panic Five felt in his chest began to spread through his body. Humming through him like electricity, building its charge as he balled his hands into fists trying to contain it. Of course he had offered his life. What else should he have done?

“What would have happened if he took you up on that offer right then?” Ben asked. “You would have just disappeared on everyone all over again? You would really do that to them after all this? After knowing who Klaus is?”  _ You left us Five. _ Were they always going to throw that at him when they were mad? Did he really have to spend the rest of their lives being reminded of his biggest mistake?

Today felt like too much. The past two weeks had been too much. The last _forty-five years_ had been beyond all of that, and now _Ben_ of all people, was throwing accusations about his failures as well? Ben? The one who got himself _killed._

The sun outside was shining bright in a cloudless blue sky, but Five felt like the world around him was burning. The panic that had been building inside him pulsed and pulled against his rib cage, survival instincts kicked in and he let it out.

“Aren’t I doing enough?” It came out of him as a shout that surprised Ben into silence. Picking his discarded notebook back up, Five held it out for Ben to see. “I have been working for  _ weeks _ on how to keep our family safe, to keep them  _ alive. _ ” Five threw the notebook on the desk and ran a hand through his hair. 

“That’s what I’ve been doing my entire life,” he continued, his hand dropping to his side, balling into a fist. “I know you all had it bad with dad after I left, I know. But I was alone in a toxic wasteland trying to stay alive and stay sane so I could come back to all of you.” He could still feel it. The ash never left him and as his anger grew and his chest hurt more, the ash was falling all around him. 

“So don’t you dare try to say I’m like Dad because I give a shit.” He visited their graves often. More so in the early years, but he never stopped going. He’d sit with them for hours with Dolores at his side. He’d tell her about Vanya and how special Five thought she was. He told her about how different he and Ben were and how they balanced each other out. He laughed as he talked about the rivalry between Luther and Diego, the constant battle for number one. Dolores and Allison would have gotten along talking about fashion and romantic movies. And  _ Klaus _ \-- Five shook his head out of those thoughts and focused back on Ben.

“Giving a shit about all of you is what kept me alive.” Ben stayed quiet, the blue of Klaus’s powers started to fade a little, making his face harder to see but the pain was evident. Could ghosts feel pain?

“I haven’t told Klaus because what good would it do?” Five asked. “It’s not going to change things, it’s not going to give us any advantage to stopping the Commission. If anything, it gives us a disadvantage. It’s just something they can use against us.” 

“The Commission already knows,” Ben pointed out. The earlier anger was still visible on his face, but the familiar calm was returning as he watched Five. “They would be the ones you need to keep it from, not Klaus.” 

_ Fuck. _ He wished the Commission didn’t know. Why did they know? Five chest tightened and the pins and needles that had started in his fingertips began to spread throughout his hands. The Commission knew and they would kill Klaus. They would kill his whole family and Five would be  _ alone. _ He would be alone and they-

“I can’t tell him, not until it’s over.” Five decided. “I can’t tell him only for Tex to kill-” Five cut himself off as his breath got caught in his throat. Ash all around him became too thick, he couldn’t breath...he couldn’t--

_ “You need to breathe Five,” _ Oh god.  _ Klaus’s _ voice was in his head. Where had Dolores gone?

“If you tell him, then it’s real,” Ben spoke up. “You guys actually have to deal with it.” And there it was. The  _ truth.  _ It washed over him like a tidal wave and the breath he’d been trying to find blew out of him in a panicked, painful sob. His body shook and below his feet was rubble and his dead siblings. He couldn’t do this again.

If he said it out loud, he might lose Klaus.

“You say you give a shit,” Ben continued after a moment, the light around him fading even more. “I believe you because I do see how hard you’ve been fighting for them. I see how much you care.” The anger had faded out of Ben’s voice and though resentment still shone back at him, Five could see the empathy taking over. 

“You aren’t  _ alone _ anymore Five,” Ben reminded him softly. “Stop acting like it.” Five swallowed down another sob, the urge to rush into his brother’s arms was almost overwhelming. He wanted to remind Ben that he wasn’t alone anymore either, the thought of Ben feeling the same way almost sent him to his knees.

“Are you going to tell him?” Five asked, hating how much he sounded like a child.

“Are you?” Ben asked, frowning. 

“Ben, I can’t...I-”

“You should tell him now,” Ben suggested. “He doesn’t understand why you’re acting like this. Just tell him and he’ll stop assuming you think he’s useless.” 

Five closed his eyes. 

He could tell Klaus. Then Klaus would get it, he would know what was really going on. He would understand better than the rest of them. Five had always known that even though he’d been closer to Vanya and Ben, Klaus was actually the one who understood him. He never had to explain himself to Klaus, he never had to apologize. Telling Klaus  _ should _ be the easiest thing Five had ever done.

Then the image of Klaus being held at gunpoint flashed across his mind and Five thought about what could have happened. He thought about finding Klaus in the rubble of the apocalypse. Those eyes staring back at him, eyes like his, and he tried to think about how that would feel knowing that Klaus was his  _ twin. _

Five stomach lurched and he shook his head.

“I can’t,” he whispered, opening his eyes he found no one staring back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Ben knows but still not Klaus! I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm so excited about what's to come now that we're really starting to get into the meat of this story!! So much is coming!! Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think! I'll see you in two weeks!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I am back! I am so sorry for the delay. I had such big hopes at always staying ahead with writing this time. I was doing really well too, I had always been three chapters ahead in my writing, but as always, life happened. Things got a little busy and I had to deal with real-life for a minute. Everything is getting back on track and I hope to be back to a semi-regular writing schedule by the new year. I am still writing away like crazy and still so excited about this story so I really hope everyone can stick around even if it's a longer wait in between chapters. 
> 
> As always, my biggest and deepest thanks goes to Fern for everything you do and all of your support. I am so glad to call you my friend and I could not be doing this without you. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter!!

*********************************

In the end, Klaus didn’t have to go to the police station. Five told him he could stay home with few words laced with barely concealed contempt. He tried to thank Ben, but his brother seemed moodier than usual and wanted to be left alone. Klaus would have thought that after finally getting to talk to each other again, both Five and Ben would be a little more appreciative of him for what he had done but apparently scowls from both of them were all the thanks he was getting.

Despite not having to go with them, Klaus still found himself sitting on the steps of the porch, wrapped in a blanket as the others prepared to leave. He had been so preoccupied with demanding his independence from Five the past couple of weeks, he hadn’t thought about what it would feel like to worry this way. He didn’t like the idea of them leaving at all. Why did Vanya have to go and talk to the police anyway? She’d already given a statement.

Klaus pulled the blanket around his shoulders a little tighter. In the back of his brain, he could feel the itch of just a little something to ease his nerves. Just one pill, just one sniff, just one drink.  _ Just one, just one, just-- _

Bringing his shaking hands together, Klaus wound his fingers around each other as he took a deep breath in as he tried to ignore the ghosts in the treeline that were suddenly so loud.  _ Dave.  _ He thought. _ Do this for Dave. _

Letting the breath out of him, and feeling calmer, Klaus looked over at Vanya as she talked to Diego by the car. She didn’t look nervous. She looked more confident that Klaus could remember her ever being. 

When they were still really young, there had been a time that Klaus and Vanya had actually been close. Vanya laughed at all his jokes, her nose scrunching up as loud giggles would erupt from her chest. She was an expert at hide and seek and always let Klaus hide with her; they would stay huddled together and squeeze each other's hands to stop laughing and give away their location. Their rooms shared a wall, the one he tore down after she left, and they used to knock to each other in a secret code. 

Klaus wasn’t sure when things started to change. Whether it was the start of the Umbrella Academy or when he started sneaking drinks from the bar, it was long before Five disappeared. One day he had been making faces to her at the dinner table; the next, it was like she didn’t exist. A lot of that could be blamed on Sir Reginald, of course, but Klaus’s heart clenched as he watched Vanya laugh at something Diego said, and he knew most of the blame laid with him.

“Don’t leave the house,” Klaus almost flinched at Five’s sudden appearance behind him. “Being on the porch isn’t even safe.” Five still insisted that Commission agents could be hiding in the trees, even though after all this time it hadn’t happened. 

“Want to wrap me in bubble wrap as well?” Klaus asked with a grin, pulling the blanket around him tighter. Five finally looked at Klaus and he didn’t look as amused.

“I’m serious Klaus,” he said, walking past him and down the steps. “We shouldn’t be more than a few hours. So try to stay out of trouble until I get back.” 

A witty remark was on the tip of his tongue, but Five’s arm was still stiff at his side. Guilt pushed down his resentment and he nodded to Five instead.“Scouts honor!” he promised with an exaggerated three finger salute.

The hard look on Five’s face dropped for a second and he looked a little more like the kid Klaus remembered. Like when they used to team up to cheer up Ben after a mission, or steal candy from the idiot at the corner store. 

Klaus felt the pit inside him, that cold and unforgiving pit that pulled every bad feeling straight to the core of himself, open even wider as he actually wished for a moment they were those kids again. Even if it meant being under Reginald’s control, right now it all felt so much more simple than all this.

“You as a scout sounds like a scary thing,” Five snarked back at him.

“They would have been lucky to have me,” Klaus reasoned. Five shook his head with a smirk and turned away to walk to the car.

“Don’t get shot,” Klaus called out spontaneously. Five stopped and looked back at Klaus baffled.“Be careful, okay?” Klaus said a little sheepishly.

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Klaus was glad for that, not that he ever would have expected Five of all people to demand they talk about the root of their feelings, but glad for the unspoken acknowledgment he could see in his brother’s eyes.

“Five, let’s go,” Diego shouted as he and Vanya got into the car. Five gave Klaus one more short, but meaningful glance before jumping into the passenger's side of the car.

“Have a good time!” Klaus called out enthusiastically, waving his hand. Diego flipped him off but Vanya smiled as she got into the backseat. As they drove off, heavy footsteps came from behind and predictably, Luther was standing over with a box of checkers in his hands.

“Hey Klaus,” he said, holding up the box with a smile. “Want to play checkers?” Klaus rolled his eyes as he glanced back at the car disappearing in the trees and shook his head. Luther’s smile was earnest and hopeful but his intentions were clearly instigated by someone else.

“Five wants you to babysit me doesn’t he?” Luther briefly looked like he was going to protest before shrugging, still offering the box of checkers to Klaus. “He may have mentioned the ways he could kill me if I let you out of my sight.” 

Klaus snorted. He needed to remind Five that being this predictable would bite him in the ass someday. With a sigh, Klaus stood up, the blanket hanging loosely on his shoulders now and he took the box into his hands. 

Despite his objections to the suffocating way Five had been acting, Klaus couldn’t deny that a part of him was touched. Not just Five, but Luther waiting patiently in front of him, ready to spend his day with Klaus. Just a few weeks ago all this was so impossible to imagine. His family went from not noticing Klaus being kidnapped to being this concerned for his safety. Although Klaus didn’t appreciate the implications that he was helpless, he did kind of like that someone other than Ben was worried about him. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Klaus saw Ben, watching from the sidelines as always. He no longer looked as angry as last night but the tension was still in his shoulders. His expression however, had softened. Ben was watching them with a longing kind of look that was new to him. He often got these faraway looks on his face that Klaus had learned meant he was wishing to be alive again. This look however, Klaus knew well. It wasn’t a longing for life, it was a longing for an end.

It hadn’t been easy for Ben, Klaus knew this, but things were different now. The others knew he was there, Klaus could even make him visible. Ben would be fine. Klaus could make sure of that. Desperately pushing those thoughts from his mind, Klaus turned his attention back to Luther.

“You want to help me cheer up Ben?” 

“Really?” Since that first week after the almost apocalypse, the others had stopped asking to see Ben so often. Whether Five had asked them not too, or with Klaus’s powers showing some improvement, they had finally backed off a considerable amount and in Luther’s case, stopped asking completely

“He did say he missed you yesterday.” The familiar flash of guilt trailed across Luther’s face. He never stopped blaming himself for what happened to Ben, and Reginald never let him forget how he had failed. For Luther, Ben’s death had the added weight of responsibility that being  _ Number One _ put on his shoulders that the others were partially spared from. 

“He did?” Luther asked hesitantly, his eyes glanced around though he couldn’t see Ben appear at Klaus’s side, a smile finally back in place.

“Thanks, Klaus,” Ben said with a soft smile. Whatever Klaus had done appeared to be forgiven and that was enough for now. Five was obviously already having some kind of extensional crisis, Klaus didn’t need to worry about another brother going off the deep end right now.

“Yeah, he did,” Klaus said, tossing an arm around Luther’s shoulder and ushering him back into the house. “And Ben would love to play checkers I’m sure, but first we need waffles.”

*********************************

For his entire life, Five never liked to wait. Given the effects of his ability, there wasn’t much Five couldn’t jump his way out of taking the long way around. If he left a book in his room, it was just a few jumps away. When racing up the stairs for drills, Five was able to pass Luther and Diego despite his lack of athletic talent. He was applauded over his siblings for his ability to adapt and to use his powers to work for him. The others would scowl as Reginald told them he expected the same level of dedication as Five had shown. 

However, over time, his inability to develop patience became more of a hindrance than the advantage it had once seemed. Once Five realized he was able to do something he couldn’t wait to become better at it. What he knew he could do would seem to fester under his skin and bubble with anticipation. It would fester and grow the longer it took him to master a certain acceptance of his ability. The spacial jumps he relied so heavily on, could only take him so far and he soon grew impatient with the limitations he saw with them.

Time travel had been when his impatience and arrogance got the better of him. He should know better by now, but Five could still feel the need to hurry, to speed through all obstacles to get to his end goal, still pulsing through him at a rate he could no longer contain.

“What is the point of telling them we’d be here at a specific time if they were just going to make us wait?” Five grumbled, looking once again at the clock on the wall that didn’t seem to be moving.

“I’m sure they’re really busy,” Vanya reasoned from where she sat on the bench in the small waiting area they had been directed to after arriving at the police station. Behind them were rows of desks with busy officers and across from the front desk was a perky blonde chatting away.

“An agreed-upon time should be respected,” Five shot back as he looked to the clock again. They had been told that Detective Beeman was on a call, one that Five was sure wasn’t that important and the longer this was taking, the more panicked he started to feel.

They needed to get this done as quickly as possible. The longer they waited around here the longer Tex had at getting to Klaus. The longer they sat here another agent could find Diego or Vanya could get upset and then the whole building could come down. 

“Will you please sit down,” Vanya said firmly enough that it pulled him out of his thoughts. “They’ll come get me when they can.” She gestured to the spot next to her on the bench and gave him a pointed look. 

“This is such bullshit,” Five muttered under his breath as he sat down next to her. “And when the hell is Diego getting back?” His eyes traveled to the hallway that Diego disappeared down.

It felt like ages ago, but it was probably just a few minutes that Diego had wandered off to see if he could find out what was taking so long. Knowing their luck though, Diego had crossed paths with a Commission agent disguised as an officer who was most likely stuffing his brother’s body into a closet right now and--

“Hey,” Vanya said gently. She reached over and put her hand over Five’s clenched fist, which made him tense immediately, a fact that didn’t seem to be lost on his sister. “What is going on?” A part of Five wanted to explode. What was going on? Were his siblings really this blind?

“Are you really asking me that?” he snapped. “We have the full force of the Commission coming after us which none of you seem to be taking seriously and-”

“Five,” Vanya stopped him, her eyes going a little wider with concern as Five heaved a breath to settle the tension in his chest at being interrupted. “Seriously, what are you not telling us?”

“What are you talking about,” Five said, pulling his hand away from her. “I’ve told you guys everything you need to know.”

“Everything we  _ need _ to know?” Vanya’s eyebrows shot up at that. “So there is something you’re hiding?” Almost shuddering _ ,  _ Five felt resentment bubbling through him as once again Vanya just had to pick. Had to look at him with those wide eyes, and her face set like she could read his mind and pull anything out of him with nothing more than this look now.

“Five?” Vanya said, softer now. Five wanted to be comforted by the worry he saw on his sister’s face. He had missed her so much. Her book,  _ her words _ , had given him a reason to live once upon a time and he wanted nothing more than to confide in her as he’d done when they’d been children. 

Five finally looked her in the eyes and instead of seeing the sister he left behind, the haze of the apocalypse shone back at him _.  _ It was always there when she was around, no matter how much he tried to look past it, how much he fought against it, she would never understand and he could barely look at her.

“Vanya, I'm not hiding anything,” Five hissed as he stood back up. “If there was some bit of vital information that would make you  _ not _ bring on the apocalypse then I would be telling you.” It was a low blow, one Five aimed with precision he wasn’t proud of. Vanya pulled back fully from him now, hurt and anger washing away her once concerned expression and Five could see it had been effective. 

Vanya narrowed her eyes as she stood up, matching his stance. Out of everyone, Vanya had grown the least, maybe an inch and half since childhood, so the two of them were almost eye to eye. The frown on her face deepened and the air around them began to buzz.

For a second, the absolute smallest of a second, Five wished for her to do it. To end everything in one monstrous swing. Five would have failed to keep his family safe but it would be over. He wouldn’t have to try so  _ goddamn hard _ any longer.

“Vanya?” 

Vanya snapped her eyes away and the air settled around them. Glancing down at his hands, Five’s fists burned with his power itching to go. Runaway again, get out of here and avoid the blow that was coming. 

The detective looked embarrassed while Diego looked more suspicious. Beside him, Vanya let out a long breath and for a second, white eyes met his, before her normal brown was back in place and she smiled at the other two men.

“I’m sorry for the wait,” Beeman said, stepping forward. “If you’re ready, we can get started.” Vanya nodded, a smile spread across her face. Without looking at Five she stepped forward and followed Beeman as they walked away. Diego watched them go until they disappeared before he turned questioning eyes to Five.

“What was that about?” he growled.

“Nothing,” Five said. He ran a hand through his hair and he sat back down on the bench. At least Vanya was finally giving her statement, now they were closer to getting out of here.

Diego stepped over, not looking overly convinced, and stood directly in front of him. Blinking away crossed Five’s mind as he met Diego’s glare with his own, but he knew it would just be pointless.

“Well,  _ nothing _ looked like Vanya starting to go all world killer and you egging her on.” 

“She’s nervous and I’m pissed off,” Five scoffed. “Things were said that are none of your business.” He sent Diego a look that he hoped conveyed just how wise it would be for them to end this conversation. Diego stared back at him for a beat or two before stepping aside, his hands held up in defeat.

“Fine,” he said. “Just maybe don’t piss off the one sibling that can kill us all when she’s mad.” Five rolled his eyes and Diego sat down next to him 

“How long is this going to take?” Five asked, looking back up at the clock. 

“It shouldn’t be too long,” Diego shrugged. 

Five ran a hand roughly through his hair. Coming here was seeming more and more of a waste of time he’d decided. The police had a statement from Vanya already, there didn’t seem to be much of a point of all this now. Especially considering the danger they all were in.

“Good, we need to get out of here as quickly as we can,” Five said, his hand fisting slightly in his hair before dropping to his side. “Is there a payphone? I should probably call the house.” 

Diego raised an eyebrow. “We said we’d call if something changed,” he reminded him. “Vanya just went back with him, we’ve got nothing to report.” Anger rushed through Five at the nonchalance in his brother’s voice. 

“Tex or any number of  _ highly trained assassins _ could have found Allison’s house by now,” he said through clenched teeth. “Our siblings could be dead, how could you-”

“Whoa, Five,” Diego interrupted him, concern seeping into his expression. “I know all that and I get that you’re worried but you need-”

“I don’t need to do anything,” Five sneered. “You all are the ones who need to step up and stop acting like this isn’t serious. Our family is in danger and you guys are acting like we’re on some holiday in the woods!” Why couldn’t any of them understand?

_ Because you haven’t told them everything. _ Hot, angry tears sprung to Five’s eyes as Dolores’s voice whispered in his ear. He looked away from Diego's surprised look and tried to take a breath but it was getting harder for him to do that. 

Five didn’t like this feeling that was coursing through him now. Since talking to Ben the night before, he couldn’t shake it off. This helplessness. It was never going to go away, the commission was never going to stop. His family would always be in danger. This was his life. Constantly waiting for his family to die.

“Jesus,” Diego grabbed his uninjured arm and pulled him to a corner of the room. “Take a breath and keep it down.” 

Five shot his eyes around the room. The woman at the front desk was looking their way and Five closed his eyes. Losing it now was not an option. Vanya would be out soon and then they could go back. Screwing his eyes shut, Five forced himself to take slower breaths. He could do this, he could keep himself from losing it for just a little longer.

“Alright?” Diego said after Five’s breathing normalized a minute later. “You good?” Five nodded, the panic in his chest eased. He pushed away from Diego and went back to the bench. Diego stayed back and watched Five curiously before he sat down next to him.

“Look,” he said. “I get that you’re worried, I do. Trust me though, none of us are taking this lightly.” Five scoffed lightly at that.

“If that were true, Klaus would be here right now.” 

He never should have let him stay behind. Another glance at the clock and Five chewed his bottom lip furiously. Tex had warned him; had  _ told _ him he would give Five time to get his family safe. Time was a strange concept when you worked for the Commission. It never meant what you would think, and what would be days to someone, was years for a Commission agent. Their time was running out and Five had left Klaus on his own. Tex was going to kill him all because  _ Ben-- _

“Five!” Diego must have said his name multiple times by the time Five registered him speaking judging by the impatient look on his face. “Klaus is going to be fine.” 

Five swallowed hard.

“I know Klaus is, well,  _ Klaus, _ ” Diego continued. “But, he actually has been working really hard at his powers and he’s stayed sober. This is the most together I think I’ve ever seen him. So you should trust him a little more.” Five wanted to scream. He knew this. He wasn’t blind to the work Kaus had been doing, but none of that mattered. They didn’t  _ understand. _

“Besides, Luther’s there,” Diego pointed out, much to Five’s surprise. “He can take care of some Commission agent.”

“Tex isn’t just  _ some _ Commission agent, you idiot,” Five spat and Diego rolled his eyes.

“So you’ve said,” Diego said as he reached for a magazine. Five looked back to the clock. Vanya had been back there for nearly five minutes by now, surely it couldn’t take much longer.

“You know,” Deigo said, breaking the silence. “Why  _ does _ Tex have yours and Klaus’s name? I thought they were just giving agents one?” Five looked sharply at Diego. 

“I mean, even Hazel said they were just giving out one name.” Five could feel Diego’s eyes on him but he focused on the clock on the wall. If Vanya could just hurry up and then they could leave and Diego would--

“Oh, you’re hiding something.” When Five glanced over, Diego narrowed his eyes. 

“Diego-” Five started but Diego was already shaking his head and sliding closer down the bench

“No,” he growled with a backward glance at the front desk before lowering his voice. “You’re keeping something from us, don’t even try to deny it Five or-”

“It’s not what you think,” Five said quickly, holding up his hands. “It’s not anything important.” Diego didn’t say anything, a sardonic smile twisted the anger off his face and he let out a breathy laugh as he leaned back.

“Of course you’re keeping something from us,” he said, his head falling back against the wall.

“It doesn’t concern you,” Five snapped. “If you needed to know then-”

“You know what?” The fire was back in Diego’s eyes. He stood up and once again glared down at Five. “You don’t get to tell us what we need to know. You lost that right when you passed out in my arms because you refused to let us help you deal with your shit.” He tried to hide it, but Five caught a glimpse at the hurt in Diego’s eyes. Now Five turned his eyes away, ashamed because Diego was right.

It was always his family’s way, make the same mistake multiple times and never learn. Five prided himself on being above them because he knew, better than the rest, the consequences of making a mistake. Yet here he was, keeping one of the biggest secrets from everyone for no other reason than--what? Fear? Anger? Hope?

_ “If you tell him, then it’s real.” _

Was it really that simple? Was reality really that scary? Five survived 45 years of isolation in toxic conditions. He had witnessed and afflicted true horror. Five was one of, if not the best, assassin the world had ever seen. How could he actually be scared of this? Of Klaus? 

Looking at Diego now, real pain on his face, and the memory of Ben’s disappointment, realization washed over Five. He promised Diego to not keep secrets. He promised himself.

He promised  _ Klaus. _

“So I think it’s about time that you--”

“Klaus and I are twins.” 

It was out of his mouth and hanging in the air for a few seconds before it fully registered in Five’s mind what he had said. He actually said the words out loud. Inside him, his stomach churned and the room suddenly felt too hot. It was good that Diego was just as stunned because Five wasn’t sure he could say anything other than;  _ Klaus and I are twins. _ He said it. He finally said it out loud. 

_ Fuck. _

“Come again?” Diego finally said, the air still thick,  _ too thick _ , with Five’s confession hanging between them.

“Diego,” he croaked out. All of that tension and panic that had been building inside him since that night at the gas station, was fluttering around his chest and refusing to settle. His head dropped down to his open hands, suddenly too heavy to stay up on its own, and the clang of an elevator door rang in his ears. 

_ Because you two are very special.  _

“No,” Diego grabbed onto his wrists, not roughly but enough that Five could feel the tension in his brother. Diego pulled his hands from his face and peered into Five’s eyes.“What did you just say?” 

_ It’s because you two are twins. _ Pogo had said it, he  _ told _ them and Five could even remember the delight that spread across Klaus’s young face at those words.

“Klaus and I are twins.” Diego blinked and dropped Five’s wrists. 

Taking a step back, Five could see the thoughts flying across Diego’s face as he took in what he’d just been told. His expression was familiar in that it looked like what Five’s whole body had been feeling these past two weeks. Two weeks of trying to understand just what that actually meant. With a lurch, the pressure in his chest lightened and Five’s heart fluttered slightly. As his breath fizzled out of him, he recognized this feeling that was now flooding him. 

_ Relief. _

For this brief window of time that Diego stood frozen in front of him, Five felt relieved. He had told the truth and the next move was Diego’s. For just this little second, Five had lifted the weight off his shoulders and it was someone else's turn to figure out what to do with it.

“Holy shit,” Diego finally said, his eyes wide. “Twins?”

“Yes,” Five said numbly.

“Like,  _ twin _ twins?” 

“What other kinds are there?” 

Diego ran his hand over his head as he flopped down on the bench next to Five. Neither of them spoke as Five watched the clock tick off a few more seconds, willing it to go faster and for Vanya to be done.

“Wait a second,” Diego said, pushing himself forward a bit. “Does Klaus know?” 

Five looked away. 

“You have  _ got _ to be kidding me,” 

“I--” It was all he got out before Diego was yanking him to his feet.

“Come with me,” he growled. Only stopping to tell the woman at the front desk where he was in case Vanya came out, Diego pulled Five out the door and out into the city.

Bursting out of the fluorescent light of the station into the late morning glare of the sun, Five squirted in his eyes as the world in front of him blurred into different colors and shapes. Fumbling along, Diego guided Five around a corner, past the payphone Allison had used weeks before, and to a stop where there was less street traffic. 

“Alright,” Deigo let go of Five’s arm and faced him. “I’m going to ask you again.  _ Does Klaus know?” _ Diego knew the answer of course. If Klaus knew something like this, the rest of them would have heard about it by now.

“No,” Five spat out. Diego looked like he was barely restraining from physically attacking him. Looking around them to check for anyone nearby, Diego turned his attention back to Five.

“How could you not tell him?”

“We’ve been a little busy if you haven’t noticed.” Five reminded him. “I’ve been preoccupied trying to figure out how to save all of you ungrateful assholes, so it hasn’t really come up.” He pushed past Diego and stepped over to the brick wall of the station. Letting his back fall against it, he rubbed his eyes furiously. A dull ache was starting in his head and for once he would agree with his siblings that he should be getting more sleep.

“Besides,” Five went on quickly before Diego had a chance to explode again. “When we were kids, he called me and Allison his  _ Number Buddies _ , and there is too long of a list of things he could come up with for  _ this.” _ It was a poor excuse, but Five was running out of them.

“Klaus being annoying is not a good enough reason to not tell him you guys are twins!” Diego exclaimed incredulously. “Are you at least  _ planning _ on telling him?” 

“Obviously,” Five shot back.

“Oh good, I’m glad that’s  _ obvious,” _ Diego laughed bitterly and shook his head. “I can’t believe you haven’t told him. How long have you known?” Five dropped his eyes away again, he knew the answer wouldn’t go over well.

“Since the night I met with Tex.” Predictably, Diego’s eyes widened at that and Five could see the anger rushing back. 

“Jesus Five,” he said, his words strained in a way Five could tell he was struggling to keep his stutter out of his voice. 

The earlier buzz of relief was wearing off and now, even in the warm sun, Five felt cold. He wrapped his arms around himself, his heart started to speed up again, and he was glad he’d worn the black hooded sweatshirt instead of the t-shirt he almost went with. The dull ache in his head started to become a more painful throb and Five’s stomach lurched dangerously. He probably should have had the toast Allison tried to force on him before leaving the house.

“So why haven't you told Klaus?” Diego asked. “Don’t you think he has a right to know?” Pushing past the way his body was starting to protest, Five stood up a little taller and faced Diego.

“Klaus needs to focus on controlling his powers,” he said quickly. “We have the Commission trying to kill us and a potential apocalypse looming over our heads. There hasn’t really been time to have that conversation and frankly, it’s not even necessary right now.” That was reasonable, Five was sure of it, and it was even mostly true. 

“Not necessary?” Diego asked. “You don’t think it’s  _ necessary _ for Klaus to know he has a twin?”

“It’s not like it changes anything,” Five shot back quickly. “We were all born the same day, us coming from the same person doesn’t suddenly make everything different.” 

_ It is different, Five. _ Dolores’s was becoming harder for him to hear. 

“That doesn’t matter,” Deigo said. “Something like this isn’t up for you to decide. That’s what Dad-” Clenching his jaw, Five pushed into his powers and jumped the few feet between them. Anger rolling through him and pushing the unease away, Five grabbed onto the front of Diego’s shirt. 

“Don’t finish that sentence,” he said through clenched teeth, the material of Diego's shirt, tight in his fists. He  _ wasn’t _ like Reginald.

“If you don’t want me to compare you to dad,” Diego said in a low voice. “Then stop acting like him. Tell Klaus the truth when we get back.” Five let go of his shirt. Taking a step back he anxiously tugged on his sleeves as he took a breath to gain some of his composure back.

“I’ll tell him once we’ve stopped the Commission,” he said firmly. 

“Goddamn it Five,” Diego scoffed and then it was him stepping into Five’s space this time, his hands held in fists at his side. “This is what’s going to happen. You are going to tell Klaus,  _ today.”  _

“Diego-”

“No,” Diego stopped him. “You are telling him today or I will tell him first thing tomorrow.” 

Five froze. He wouldn’t.

“You can’t-” Five started to say but Diego shook his head.

“Klaus is still my brother and I can tell him whatever the fuck I want,” he said. “Especially if you’re too chicken shit to do it yourself.” 

“That’s not-” Five tried to defend himself but Diego still wouldn’t let him speak.

“And for the last fucking time,” Diego almost looked pained. “You are going to stop keeping secrets from us. You're not alone anymore you crazy psychopath. Tell us what the fuck is going on so we can help deal with the fallout.” Despite all the anger, Five could see the plea in Diego’s eyes. He could see how badly he just wanted all of this, their family together again, to work. 

Out of all of them, Diego had been the one who had stepped up the most the past two weeks. He worked things out with Vanya and surprisingly Luther. He was the one who was keeping Parick up to date and helping to get messages to and from Claire for Allison. Even with Diego’s insistence that he was best on his own, he was the one that was really holding their family together.

Despite all of that, Five couldn’t tell Klaus; he wasn’t ready.

“Diego,  _ please-”  _ It wasn’t a word Five used often, it wasn’t something he wanted to do, but he needed more time. They were so close to stopping the Commission. They were almost  _ safe. _

“Diego?” Both of them almost jumped as the woman from the front desk appeared around the corner. She blinked, her face showing her discomfort at having interrupted them. “Detective Beeman is just about done with your sister.” 

Relief flooded back into Five’s chest and he leaned against the brick wall as Diego nodded his thanks. Five watched his brother and waited to see where they were leaving things. Diego chewed on his lip for a second, staring down at the ground before he looked up to meet Five’s gaze. 

“I’m going to make sure everything is handled with that,” he said and dug into his pocket. “Go wait in the car.” Five fumbled to catch the keys that were tossed his way and when he looked back up, Diego was gone and Five was alone.

*********************************

By the time they had left the city limits the only sound in the car was the hum of the engine and the road underneath. Five leaned close to the window in the backseat, his forehead resting against the window, he watched the trees pass by as they got deeper into the woods leading to Allison’s house. In front of him, Diego hadn’t said a word since they left the police station. Five could make out his hands clenching the steering wheel and the tightness in his shoulders. Vanya was next to him, eyeing both of them with concern that was quickly turning into irritation.

“Okay,” Vanya finally said. “What is going on?” Diego’s eyes darted to look at Five in the rearview mirror and Vanya also looked to him to answer the question.

“Nothing,” Five ground out. “Everything is fine.” 

Diego snorted. “Oh yeah,” he said. “Everything is fine.” Five caught Diego’s glare in the mirror and just barely stopped himself from kicking the seat in childish rage. Vanya didn’t miss their looks and turned her attention to Diego now.

“Did something happen?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Diego said sharply, looking at Five again. “Did something happen Five? Isn’t there something you--” The rest of his sentence was cut off as Diego suddenly slammed on the breaks. 

Five flung forward into the seat in front of him and he saw Diego’s arm jolt out to catch Vanya. When the car came to a complete stop, Five surged forward. Almost diving between the two front seats, he looked at what had stopped them. 

Tex was standing about eight feet away in the middle of the empty road. Alongside the briefcase at his feet was a large duffle bag that Five could see was full of various weapons. Tex’s face was hard to see with the distance, but Five could tell by his stance that he hadn’t come to chat like last time.

“You know this one?” Diego asked.

“Yeah,” Five said, gripping the seats in front of him. “That’s Tex.” He could see both their faces turn to him out of the corner of his eyes, but Five kept his attention on Tex.

“What should we do?” Vanya asked nervously.

“Want me to run him over?” Before Five could tell Diego no, Tex swiftly reached into the duffel bag aimed a large gun directly at the car. Five’s eyes widened and he barely had a chance to shout out before a spray of bullets started pelting the car. 

All three of them ducked as glass shattered all around them. Vanya let out a scream as a bullet hit near her shoulder and Five looked to her frantically. Her hands covered her ears and her long hair obscured her face. Five couldn’t see her eyes but he could only hope her powers wouldn’t be triggered by this. 

“Son of a bitch,” Diego shouted, his arms up over his head. He looked back at Five briefly before moving as much as he could to get closer to Vanya. Five hunched down further between the seats. The bullets weren’t stopping and the chances of them making it out of the car were slim. 

“Dammit,” Five said under his breath. With no other options, he took both his siblings by the arm and jumped.

It wasn’t often that Five carried anyone along in his jumps. Occasionally it was necessary but it was avoided at all costs. Five’s powers had the unfortunate side effect of being easily drained. During missions he had to be careful how many times he jumped, one too many and his powers would fizzle down to nothing. Going a longer distance would also drain him faster so he learned to keep his jumps to just a few feet. Having an extra person had proven though, to be the fastest way Five would drain not only his powers, but himself.

Once on a mission when they were kids, Five got Luther, Ben and Diego out of a burning building. The effects of traveling with three extra people and the long distance he had to jump to get them out had been more than Five ever experienced before. Once he landed the four of them outside the building, Five collapsed at their feet and didn’t wake up for another 19 hours.

Five’s head swam as the world came back into focus. They were outside the car now, behind it with bullets hitting the ground all around them. Five let go of Diego and Vanya, his hands shaking and he clenched his jaw against the nausea rocking his stomach. Vanya looked unsure of what had just happened and Diego leaned against the car, looking a little green.

“Oh god, I think I’m going to puke,” Diego moaned, leaning against the car. “A little warning would have been nice.” Five glared at his brother before ignoring the protests of his body and moved to get on the other side of Diego.

“There really wasn’t much time,” he shouted over the sound of the bullet. Five tried his best to get a look around the car to get a visual on Tex, but the still constant spray of bullets made that impossible.

“What do we do?” Vanya asked, her hands still over her ears as she pushed herself against the car and Diego crawled to her side.

“He’s here for me,” Five shouted to them. “I’ll distract him and you guys make a run for it.”

“What?” Vanya’s hands dropped and Diego turned back to him with a frown.

“That’s not happening,” he shouted and before Five could argue back, the bullets stopped and everything went quiet. Peaking around the car, Five watched as Tex fiddled with the gun, he was out of bullets and by the frown on his face, he didn’t have any more with him.

“There’s no time for a discussion,” Five said, looking back at Diego and Vanya. “You guys run into those woods and get back to Allison’s.” They had a small window of time to pull this off. Tex wasn’t even looking, if Five could just keep his attention off of them long enough then there was a chance for the two of them to get out of here.

“Five, that’s crazy,” Vanya cried, still huddled against Diego.

“I’m with her,” Diego glared. “Didn’t I just get done telling you that you are not--” Five growled and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling Diego closer.

“Get Vanya out of here,” he hissed. “And go check on Klaus.” He hadn’t let the thought enter his head before the words slipped out of his mouth. If Tex was here now, where could he have been before?

Ignoring any further protests, Five stepped out from behind the car. Tex stood in the same spot as before and the gun clambered to the ground once he caught sight of Five. He didn't move, simply watched as Five walked around and stood in front of the car.

“Nice to see you again,” Tex called out to him.

“Wish I could say the same,” Five said. “I thought you were going to give me some time.”

“Haven’t I?” Tex looked down at the bag by his feet, contemplating the contents before shaking his head. “They’re getting really tired of waiting back at headquarters.” Five fisted his hands into his pockets as a shudder passed through him. Hazel had warned the same thing, and the last thing they wanted was an impatient Commission.

“I can imagine,” Five said, hoping he was successfully hiding the way his legs were starting to tremble. The overuse of his powers was making it harder to stay standing. “Have you heard anything about my niece Claire? Is she a target?”

“Wouldn’t be surprised,” Tex said, his tone turning cold. “She’s a kid, that makes her fair game in their minds.” Five swallowed harshly, the answer was predictable and Five knew they needed to step up their timeline on taking down the Commission.

“I need more time,” he practically pleaded to his old partner. “My family, they--”

“Your family,” Tex laughed. “It's always about  _ your family _ isn't it? It’s never about mine.” 

“Tex,” Five said, taking a step forward. “I can help--”

“I’ve given you more than enough time to get your family safe,” Tex said, not letting Five speak. 

_ “Please.” _ It was the second time he said it today. 

“I have given more time than you will ever know,” Tex grimaced, shaking his head to himself as he stooped down and pulled something from the bag. Five’s eyes widened as he caught sight of a rocket launcher. 

Snapping his head around, Five tried to see if Diego and Vanya had cleared the car, but he couldn’t see where they had gone. Clenching his fists, Five’s powers failed him as his heart started to race.

“Tex, wait!” he called out, but Tex already had the rocketlauncher up on his shoulder, aiming at Five. Before Five could even think to move, Tex fired. It was like the world was moving in slow motion, and all Five was left with was the roaring in his ears and the thought that at least it was all over, at least he wouldn’t have to fight anymore. 

He closed his eyes and waited for the blow.

When nothing happened, Five opened his eyes and found Vanya at his side.

Vanya’s skin was almost pure white, her hands held up in front of her. All around them the air buzzed with so much energy that Five had to hold onto the bumper of the car to keep his balance. His ears began to ring as he felt the familiar sting of being this close to Vanya’s powers. He could feel the phantom pain of being suspended in the air as the life was being sucked out of him. Those white eyes staring up at him.

In front of them, the rocket floated midair, a swell of sound and heat was coming off of it as Vanya drew in the sound of the blast. She pulled it all in, close to her chest where she was learning to have some control. All the air seemed to be sucked from Five’s lungs and from the world around them. Fear started to spread like pins and needles all over Five’s body as he watched a bright light begin to shine from Vanya’s chest.

Five had never seen her do this. He hadn’t found anything in Reginald’s journals either. The area around Vanya’s eyes started to get darker as the light in her chest got brighter. She screamed and Five flinched, his hands covering his ears. A flash of a memory of him doing this exact same thing when they were four and Klaus was screaming in front of him, his powers overwhelming him, abruptly popped up in Five’s mind and he had to forcibly push it away.

_ This is not the time for fear. _

Fear was all Five felt now as he watched his sister. Fear that this was how the apocalypse, how the world he grew up in, _ happened _ .

Just when he thought everything was going to end, when the roaring in his ears reached its peak, the rocket in front of them began to dissolve. Like it was sugar in the rain, the rocket melted away. The roaring began to quiet and the heat disappeared so quickly, it left a chill in the air.

Once the whole thing was gone, Vanya cried out and all the energy she had been controlling pushed out of her and went straight for Tex and knocked him off the ground. With a snap, Vanya’s powers receded, her color returned normal and Five could breathe again.

Tex lay still, probably stunned, for a moment before he rolled to his side. Five watched as he fumbled for the briefcase and was gone in an instant. Next to him, Vanya was shaking, her hands held out in front of her as she stared at them, her breaths started coming out faster and harsher.

“Vanya,” Five’s voice croaked out of him. His throat felt like he’d been screaming and he swallowed in a desperate attempt to soothe it.

“What--What was that?” Vanya cried, her panicked expression turning to him but Five could only stare back at her in shock.

“Vanya,” Diego stumbled over to them. He looked between the two of them before reaching out to Vanya, who fell into his arms with a sob. 

Diego hugged her close, his wide eyes turning to Five once again. “We need to get home.”

*********************************

_ March 14, 1994 _

_ Number Five continues to make fast progress. He has progressed to spacial jumps of 3 feet, much faster than I first anticipated. Number Four however, continues to be more difficult. It is imperative they progress at the same speed. New methods need to be experimented with, though I have learned, anything physical gets a reaction from Number Five. I will separate them for punishments until I can see further improvements. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now Diego knows and Tex is back!! Please let me know what you think!! Exciting stuff is coming!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I am so sorry for the long wait. Life is crazy but I am back!! I don't want to jinx myself and say that things are back on track and it won't be months between updates from here on out, but I promise I'm not giving up on this story and it will come as fast as I can write it! 
> 
> All my thanks goes to Fern for everything you do, I'd be a blubbering mess without you! 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!!!

*********************************

Klaus was in the woods. Completely surrounded by trees, he looked above him at the stars that twinkled in the night sky and the moon that was shining brighter than the sun. Squinting up at it, Klaus couldn’t remember why he was here. Wasn’t he supposed to be doing something else right now? Didn’t he have to worry about what could get him in these trees? Deciding that it was best for him to get back home, Klaus began to walk through the woods.

Despite being barefoot, the ground cold underneath his feet, Klaus couldn’t feel the twigs snap or the jab of the rock he just stepped directly on. The air was still and his breath billowed out in front of him in large puffs that dissipated quickly. There was no sound, not even the usual crickets or small animals scurrying around. Even the sound of his footsteps on the dry leaves was swallowed up into a chilling silence. In the back of his mind, Klaus knew this was strange, but he kept going deeper into the woods. 

Soon he found himself in a clearing, a perfect circle of tall grass in the middle of the seemingly endless forest. Klaus felt momentarily relieved. The trees towering over him made him feel claustrophobic and he wasn’t sure which way to take back to the house. He just needed a moment to get his bearings and then he could--

“Klaus?” 

Klaus snapped his head around, his heart stopping in his chest. 

_ Dave. _

Desperately, Klaus started to run to where he heard Dave’s voice. He tried to yell back, scream so Dave would know where he was, but no sound came out. Lifting his legs became harder with each step as if the ground had turned to mud that was threatening to suck him down completely. Despite that, Klaus kept trying, kept pulling his legs forward. In the distance between the trees, he caught the slightest glimpse of Dave’s familiar face, his easy smile, and Klaus tried again to call out. But still, no sound came out.

After running for what felt like hours, Klaus was still in the clearing and no closer to the treeline. He felt like he had been running for ages by now. His lungs burned and his muscles ached. The more he tried to run, the more his body protested. 

“Klaus?” Dave sounded farther away now. He was getting away again. Klaus was going to lose him _again._

_ Come back, _ he pleaded, the words unable to make it past his lips.  _ Don’t leave me again.  _ He took another step and then-

_ CRASH! _

Klaus was on the ground. The moon and star-filled sky was replaced with a ceiling fan at full blast. The trees were gone and judging by the way his back stung, the hardwood floor was underneath him and not the soft grass of the clearing. 

It was a dream.

“Finally,” Ben scoffed standing over him. “You need to get up.” His head still hazy from the dream, Klaus pushed himself up on his elbows, wincing at the dryness in his throat, and shielding his eyes from the sun streaming into the room.

“What?”

“The others just got back,” Ben said, eyes grim. “Something happened.” 

Oh.  _ Shit. _

Fumbling, Klaus got up and for the first time heard the raised voices of his siblings downstairs. The words  _ Tex _ and  _ rockets _ filtered up and the anxiety he felt from his dream began to buzz through his entire body. Grabbing the shirt he’d thrown on the floor before passing out on the pull-out couch earlier, Klaus stumbled out into the hall.

He had been able to keep Ben visible for an entire twenty minutes for Luther and Allison, a new record, but it had left him feeling exhausted. Klaus had never experienced this before, the way his powers seemed to drain all energy out of him, it was much more of a thing that would happen to Five after jumping too far or too much. His powers just had the fun side effect of ghosts screaming in his face and touching him when they got too close. Now his muscles ached and he could remember hangovers that were easier than this.

Pulling his shirt over his head, Klaus started to make his way down the stairs. Vanya was crying, shaking her head with a pleading look as she spoke too fast for Klaus to understand. Allison was stroking her hair, trying to calm her down, but it didn’t seem to be working. Diego and Luther were talking intently and all he could make out was that Tex had attacked them. 

Tex had found them, and  _ Five _ wasn’t with them.

“Where’s Five?” No one answered him, not even Ben who left Klaus’s side and reappeared next to Vanya. No one even turned their heads to look at him, and for a moment Klaus was sure he was still dreaming.

“My car is completely fucked,” Diego growled. “We were lucky it was able to make it back here or we would still be walking. If I ever get a hold of that son of a-”

“Is your car really the thing that you're most concerned about right now?” Luther interrupted incredulously. 

“Seeing how it’s our only way to get around since you and Five decided to get rid of the other car-”

“Because it was stolen!” 

Coming to the bottom of the stairs, Klaus glanced around the rest of the downstairs and the uneasy feeling in his gut began to grow. Five hadn’t gone for the kitchen to get a cup of coffee or to angrily start pacing in the living room as he was sometimes prone to do. Diego and Vanya were talking over each other and none of the few words Klaus could make out were about the whereabouts of their brother.

“Tex came out of nowhere,” Vanya sobbed as she pulled back from Allison. Her eyes shone with tears as she turned desperately to the others, her chest heaving with each breath. “He just started shooting at us! Five wanted us to leave him but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t know what I was doing!” 

Klaus’s blood ran cold.

Vanya didn’t just look scared, she looked  _ guilty. _ She had used her powers. The same powers that shook the walls of the academy and brought the entire place down on top of them. The same powers that suspended him in the air and drained the life out of him as he could only stare down into her white eyes. What did she do this time? What happened with Tex? 

Where the  _ hell _ was Five?

“Hey!” Klaus shouted at all of them, finally getting their attention. “Where’s Five?” No one spoke. 

Luther looked to Diego as Vanya buried herself in Allison’s arms. Diego didn’t offer an answer though, instead he gaped at Klaus. His apparent anger over the state of his car seemed momentarily pushed aside as he looked Klaus up and down, almost as if he was examining him for strange oddities that had grown all over his body. That, along with his silence, made the unease shift to outright panic and Klaus felt his heart stutter before it began to race.

Klaus felt like he was pushed back in time and shoved into his 13-year-old body. Standing with his siblings in a line as they gazed upon the painting of Five hung over the fireplace. Like Icurus, Reginald had told them, Five was gone. Like then, grief and betrayal crept into his brain and shot to his throat making it difficult to breathe. Five was gone,  _ again _ , and Klaus felt the cold rush of guilt cascade over him.

_ He should have gone with them. _

Outside, the ghosts that he’d been able to keep to the treeline had made their way to the windows now. Sensing his distress had always been what drew them this close. They started to bang at the windows, scratching and screaming. They always figured when he was low, they somehow had their chance.

_ “Klaus. Klaus. Klaus!” _

His hands shot up to his ears, needing to drown them out because what if Five was one of them? Klaus would have another brother tied to him by the sick string of death. Following him like a constant shadow to remind him that  _ this  _ was the brother who should have lived.

“Klaus,” Diego’s voice cut over the static and screams. No longer gaping at Klaus, he came forward cautiously and held out a hand. “He’s right here,” Diego stepped aside and just as he said, Five walked through the door. 

Relief flooded him, and Klaus dropped his hands as the ghosts got quiet again.

No one spoke as Five silently closed the large door behind him. His eyes, which had previously been carefully tracking each of his heavy footsteps, looked vacant when he finally glanced up at his siblings. His skin was pale and the pinched expression on his face only seemed to relax once he started to look over each one of them.

Klaus could see Five begin to tremble slightly. The sweatshirt he wore suddenly looked so much bigger than it had just a few hours ago. His already thin frame was swallowed up by the material making him seem so much smaller and more fragile than Klaus was comfortable with. Five’s large, glossy eyes finally settled on Klaus after checking over everyone, and for a second, more tears began to build in his eyes.

_ Jesus, _ what the hell happened?

Ten minutes later they were all scattered around the living room as Diego recounted the last hour. As always, there was no such thing as a quick trip into the city. Klaus had been right again, though even he knew this wasn’t the time to point that out. 

Pulling his knees closer to his chest, Klaus looked over at Five. Five, who had done nothing but warn Klaus for weeks about how dangerous this man was, stayed silent instead of gloating that he was right about Tex. There was no angry tirade about Klaus’s incompetence or puffing out his chest to rub it in. Instead of boasting, Five looked lost.

Not only had they had a run-in with Tex, but Vanya’s powers were progressing beyond what Reginald had seemed to have anticipated or even written about in his journals. They were entering unknown territory without a map, and one of the very probable outcomes to all of this was the end of the world. 

“Vanya did what?” 

“How many times do we have to explain, Luther?” 

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” Vanya pleaded to them, lifting her head from where she had buried her face in her hands. She sat curled up in the armchair with Allison at her side, rubbing her back to keep her calm. 

“Vanya,” Luther said, his voice calm as he spoke to her. “What were you trying to do?” Vanya sat up a little straighter, her hair falling down her shoulders, and she wiped her face dry of the tears that were only just now beginning to stop.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, letting her feet drop to the floor. “I thought I could push it away, I didn’t know it would just-- I don’t even know what happened!” Vanya turned her desperate gaze over to the farthest corner of the room where Five was slumped against the wall looking as if he wasn’t even listening to them.

“Five, do you--” Vanya started to ask, but Five didn’t react, only continued to stare at the same spot on the floor he had been vacantly looking at since he collapsed against the wall after finally coming inside. 

“What happened was awesome,” Diego said quickly. “You saved us back there, Vanya.” With a hint of a smile, Vanya nodded before sitting back against the chair. Though she seemed calmer, Vanya's face still looked strained. 

“What about Tex?” Luther asked, turning to Five now. “He said he was giving you time.” Five looked up and just blinked at Luther blearily before his eyes drifted back to staring at nothing once again. 

Klaus frowned and scooted himself further down the couch. Moving almost through Ben on the way, he got as close to Five as he could. The dark far-off look in his brother’s eyes scared Klaus more with each passing second.

“Five,” Klaus said softly. “Are you okay?” 

Five looked over at him, eyes locking onto his and Klaus felt his chest ache at the lost look on his brother’s face. For a moment everyone in the room sat silently as they all waited for him to speak, but Five just continued to stare blankly at Klaus without a word.

“I think a rocket is a pretty clear sign that any head start he was giving us is over,” Diego said, once it was clear that Five wasn’t going to answer. “He also didn’t seem to have much of a problem killing me or Vanya, so I’m guessing we’re fair game to him now.” Five’s eyes drifted away from Klaus and the first sign of recognition went across his face as he nodded solemnly to Diego. 

Allison quickly scribbled something across her notepad, jumping on the fact that Five was somewhat paying attention now, and held up her question for him to hopefully answer.

_ “He was your old partner. Is there anything that can change his mind?”  _ Five looked conflicted for a second. Out of everyone, Five had the hardest time ignoring Allison. Klaus knew he felt responsible for all of them, but Allison losing her voice weighed almost heavier on Five than it did Vanya, and he finally cleared his throat.

“I doubt it,” he croaked, looking pained at speaking. “He’s doing this to save his family, nothing is going to stop him.” Five eyes drifted over all of them, his expression momentarily becoming even more haunted than before, and Klaus felt his chest tighten. Five understood better than all of them about the depths of Tex’s devotion. 

Klaus bit his lip. If Tex’s family was the reason he was willing to kill them, then maybe they could use that to their advantage.

“Well, I have an idea,” Klaus spoke up nervously. “Why don’t we get his family on our side.” All eyes turned to him, even Ben looked surprised at this suggestion. Five, in particular, looked to him curiously. 

“In what way?” he asked.

“I can conjure them,” Klaus said with a shrug. “Maybe they can help us talk some sense into him.” 

“You can do that?” Vanya asked. 

“I can try.” 

“Are their ghosts just hanging around here?” Diego asked, looking suspiciously over his shoulder.

Klaus’s powers had always been confusing to his siblings. Klaus spent so much of his life pretending that they didn’t exist, he never bothered trying to explain it to them, and the others were more than a little freaked out by what he could do. 

When they were seven, Diego claimed Klaus’s powers weren’t real and he was just like boring,  _ ordinary _ Number Seven. With no visual proof of the ghosts, and Klaus’s refusal to try, it was hard for the others to believe him. Five and Ben tried to stick up for him, but Diego and Luther wanted real proof. 

An hour later Diego and Luther ran screaming from the room when a ghost of a woman with her head swiveled around came out of the blue that surrounded Klaus’s hands. After that, his siblings never seemed interested in Klaus’s powers. Only caring when it benefited them, they never really understood the things he could actually do. To be fair, neither had Klaus.

“That could actually work.” Surprisingly, it was Five who spoke up. “What do you need?” 

Klaus blinked, still not used to being believed so quickly, he glanced at Ben who gave him an encouraging smile. “If you know his wife’s name, I can start with her.” It was doubtful that the ghosts of Tex’s family were any of the ones milling around the treeline in his peripheral vision, so Klaus would just need a name to try to call them forward.

“He never told me their names,” Five said chewing on his lip. “I don’t even know if Tex is his real name. Most agents go by a code name.”

Diego snorted. “You mean  _ Cha Cha _ wasn’t her real name?” 

“What do you know about his family?” Luther asked.

“Just that they died in a car accident,” Five sighed, shifting his weight around a bit. Color was slowly returning to his face, but the vacant look in his eyes persisted. “He was driving so he blames himself. I think the kids were really young.” Klaus grimaced. Car crash ghosts usually looked pretty bad, but maybe if the crash happened a long time ago, they would look okay. 

After all, Ben eventually had.

“I can still try,” Klaus said, hoping that Five wouldn’t be discouraged. 

“Maybe Hazel will know something,” Luther suggested. “Or the people from the Commission he was talking about.” 

Five looked away from all of them, a little helplessly as if him not knowing his old partner’s dead wife’s name had just cost them everything. Klaus felt the guilt burn in his throat. 

“Look,” Diego said, taking control again. “Right now, there isn’t anywhere any of us need to be going, so until we know what our next move is, no one is leaving.” That was something Klaus had been saying all along. The little day trips they had been taking had almost cost them all their lives, and Klaus was relieved to see his siblings all agree to stay put. 

After that, the others began to file out of the room. Vanya and Allison went up the stairs and Luther headed towards the kitchen. Diego started to follow him, but he hung back for a moment, watching Five carefully. 

Five hadn’t moved, Klaus wasn’t even sure if he was aware the others had left. Klaus caught Diego’s eye and gave him a small nod, wordlessly telling him he would take care of Five. Diego seemed to hesitate, a strained look on his face before he nodded back and disappeared into the kitchen. 

“Five?” Klaus said, going over to him. “Seriously, are you ok?” 

Five looked up then, his eyes glossy and his face pale. The fear, panic, and exhaustion of the past few weeks were etched into every inch of his face. Five had been going full speed for so long, it seemed that Tex’s rocket had finally been his breaking point. “How could I possibly be ok?” he asked. 

Klaus blinked, surprised by the random honesty coming out of him. Klaus hadn’t been expecting that. Looking behind him, he considered getting Diego to come back or maybe a little help from Ben, but they were alone. 

“Listen, Buddy” Klaus started to say, raking a hand through his hair and hoping the right thing to say would come to him. He opened his mouth to say more, to try to comfort his brother in some way, when a knock at the door interrupted the stillness in the room.

“Shit,” Five hissed and clamped his hands down onto Klaus’s arm. Klaus felt the hot, eclectic snap of Five’s powers and immediately tensed, it had been a while since he’d been on one of Five’s jumps, but he remembered how unpleasant of an experience it was. 

Nothing happened this time though, the power fizzling out instead. Diego had said Five had teleported him and Vanya out of the car less than an hour before. Five would have needed more time to rest to be able to jump with someone so soon after, so Klaus wasn’t surprised his powers failed. Five however, looked terrified and gripped Klaus’s arm even tighter.

“Get upstairs now!” Frantically, Five began to push Klaus towards the stairs. 

“Five, what the hell?” Klaus almost lost his footing, but Five’s vise grip on his arm kept him upright.

“Don’t come downstairs,” Five bit out. “No matter what happens.” Ben was suddenly back, appearing by the door as Luther and Diego came rushing from the kitchen. Diego made it to the door first and looked out the window as Klaus tried to pry Five’s fingers off his arm. He was squeezing so hard, Klaus was sure he was drawing blood.

“It’s just Hazel,” Diego frowned, and Klaus sighed. Not Tex, just Hazel, they could relax. 

Five, however, stayed frozen with his fingers digging further in and Klaus could feel the tremors going through his brother’s body. He hadn’t stopped shaking since coming into the house.

“Fivey,” Klaus whispered. Five looked up at him, his eyes slowly starting to lose that frantic edge, but the fear was evident. Klaus felt a shiver rip down his spine. The only time he’d ever seen that look on Five’s face was a few weeks ago in Allison’s basement. 

“Should I let him in?” Luther asked, waving to Hazel standing outside. Five didn’t say anything, his eyes still locked on Klaus. Still lost inside his own mind, someplace far away that Klaus couldn’t reach, he didn’t even look Luther’s way. Now Klaus was really getting scared and he moved his hand on top of Five’s.

“Five?” The emotions on his face, the fear and pure vulnerability, seemed to swirl in his eyes before he pushed them away. In the blink of an eye, Klaus saw his brother retreat back into himself and the hard mask he wore was back in place.

“I’ll talk to him outside,” he said and pushed himself away from Klaus. Without even a glance back, Five turned away from him and Klaus swallowed against the sudden wave of sadness that seemed to wash over him.

“I’m coming with you,” Diego said quickly, stepping around him and avoiding looking Klaus’s way. Beside him, Ben had reappeared and was watching Klaus carefully. Looking into his face like he expected Klaus to pick up on something in Five’s strange’s behavior, but as always, Klaus fell short of his expectations. 

Luther opened the door and all conversations became a blur to Klaus as he backed himself away and took a seat on the stairs. Five hovered in the doorway, his back rigid, and turned to look once more at Klaus. A tear slid down Five’s face completely unnoticed and then he was out the door.

_ Shit. _

Klaus had to find Tex’s family.

*********************************

Five’s ears were still ringing and pain radiated through his whole body as he tried in vain to listen to what Hazel was saying in front of him. Five could see his mouth moving, but he heard nothing, his attention kept being pulled back to Allison’s house in front of them. The entire ride back Five had been sure they would arrive to find nothing but carnage.

After seeing the real anger in Tex’s eyes today, anger he had never seen directed at him in such an obvious way, his mind conjured up images of Allison’s house, their  _ home _ , up in flames. Allison and Luther’s bodies strewed out on the yard, bodies already cold, stiff and  _ dead. _ He would have found Klaus separated from them. Like in the apocalypse, his brother would have died alone. Killed by Tex in the most brutal way, probably wondering what he had done to deserve his fate.

“1974?” Diego’s voice filtered through his thoughts. “Why do we have to meet them in 1974?” Diego had taken the lead again once they stepped outside. His eyes kept darting Five’s way, worried like he expected Five to keel over any second. 

When they had finally pulled up to the house and Five could see that it was still standing, tears had suddenly begun falling down his face. In the window he could see Luther and Allison sitting together on the couch. Even though he couldn’t see Klaus, Allison was smiling, and that was enough proof for Five. They were  _ alive. _

Beside him, Diego had looked shocked. Five couldn’t think of a time after they were 6 that he had ever cried in front of Diego. He couldn’t believe he was doing it now, but the tears wouldn’t stop. Vanya rushed out of the car the second she could. Too lost in her own fears, she didn’t see Five stay glued to his seat as he began to shake. Diego stayed where he was as well. His hands still on the steering wheel, he waited, but Five  _ couldn’t _ stop.

_ “Take your time,” _ Diego had said, his hands finally falling away as he opened the door. Luther was on the porch now, they all would come running soon.  _ “I’ll explain it to them. Come in when you’re ready.” _ Diego was gone after that, ushering the others inside and giving Five the privacy he needed. Covering his face with his hands, Five had sobbed.

“Herb says that on this particular day, in this town, it’s a momentarily blank spot to the Commission.” Hazel was saying as the ringing finally began to fade. “We won’t have a lot of time for us to talk, but it’s our best chance to meet.” Five had met Herb briefly the last time he was at headquarters. A quiet man, Five was surprised he was the mastermind behind a group of disgruntled workers with their sights set on taking down the Commission from the inside.

Five was even more surprised to learn that Dot, the woman in charge of all apocalypse related issues, like Five himself, was also part of this group. According to Hazel, who’d had his own grievances with the Commission for years, the push for change was a long time coming. There was a growing number of people who felt that with their knowledge of the timeline, there was good they could do in the world while still being responsible for the natural order of things.

“When does he want to do this?” Five asked, straightening out the sleeves of his sweatshirt as he tried to shake the cobwebs from his mind.

“Tomorrow,” Hazel said with a sigh. “The earlier we meet, the better.” It was only a few weeks since they’d met Hazel, but now it looked like he’d aged years. Five could sympathize. 

In just a matter of weeks, Hazel had finally thrown off the shackles of the Commission, fallen in love, and was now planning to overtake an organization that literally controlled time. Rest wouldn’t come until the Commission was stopped for good and Hazel was just as eager to get this over with.

“How about you meet us back here in the morning,” Five suggested. “We don’t need everyone to go so-”

“I’m going,” Diego cut in sharply, his eyes narrowing a bit at Five. “You’re not leaving this decade without supervision.” Five rolled his eyes. While he didn’t like the idea of his sibling's time traveling, even with the assistance of a briefcase, Five wouldn’t stop Diego from tagging along. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Diego would be helpful.

“Fine,” Five sighed, then turned back to Hazel. “There’s just one more thing. Tex-”

“Your old partner?” 

Five nodded. “Is there any way Herb could get me his personal file?” As an analyst, Herb or Dot would have the easiest access to any kind of file on Tex. “The names of his family specifically.

“I can ask him,” Hazel said, settling the controls on his briefcase. “What do you need it for?” 

“Insurance.” Like any organization, the Commission kept a lengthy file on each of their agents. Since they recruited people from all over time, they kept maticulais files on where they’d come from and what their impact in the timeline was. They couldn’t ask just anyone to join, and usually they only went after the ones that would benefit them most. If there was any chance at learning who Tex’s family was, this was their best shot.

Once a time was agreed on for them to meet, Hazel left, and now with new plans set in place, Five could feel the exhaustion starting to take over. Rubbing his hands together, he could still feel his powers humming under his skin. It had been a few weeks since he’d exhausted his powers this much, the uncomfortable pulse felt like a reminder he should have been training alongside Vanya and Klaus.

_ “Practice is what keeps your abilities strong,”  _ Reginald used to say to them. _ “When you refuse to use them, they will turn against you.” _

“Five?” Diego asked, his hand dropping onto Five’s shoulder. He looked worried like he had in the car, like the others had when he walked in the house, so Five shoved his hand away. 

“I’m fine,” he said, instinctively.

“You are not--” 

“I overdid it back there,” Five quickly interrupted. “I can admit that. I just need to lay down.” For once, honesty paid off and Diego backed off pretty quickly. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Diego turned his attention back to his bullet hole ridden car and frowned. 

They had been lucky the car was able to get them back to Allison’s, but Five was pretty sure it wouldn’t work now. Looking at Diego’s face, Five felt a stab of sympathy for his brother. Diego bought that car on his own, he had told Five proudly. Bought it with money he earned and not from Reginald. Five could only imagine, but it must have felt like freedom.

“So,” Diego said as they walked back to the house. “Do you really think finding his family is going to work?”

“It would have for me.” 

Diego stopped at that. Halting just before the steps, he looked at Five with a soft expression on his face. He didn’t say anything, but Five could see the gratitude in his eyes.

“Are you going to talk to Klaus now?” Five bit back a growl. Of course Diego couldn’t just be grateful to Five for caring about them. He just wanted to butt into things that weren’t his business. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Five was about to answer when Vanya walked out the door.

“Five?” Tears still in her eyes, Vanya was looking to Five for answers, but answers to what? He didn’t have any. He had no idea what she had just done. For all he knew, that was how the world ended. 

Maybe when she ended it this time, she would dissolve the entire planet into nothing. The world of death and destruction he’d grown up in wouldn’t exist. Everything would just be gone. Evaporated into the atmosphere with no hint that anything had ever been there at all.  _ Proof  _ once and for all, that none of it had ever mattered.

Without saying a word, Five walked past her and into the house.

*********************************

“This is a bad idea.”

“You say that about everything.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Ben snapped, keeping in step with Klaus’s long stride. “It’s because I’m usually right.” Klaus rolled his eyes. One of these days he was going to make a list of all the things Ben had been wrong about and have a nice long laugh over each and every one of them. 

“Everything is gonna be fine,” Klaus assured him, pulling back a low-hanging tree branch that was in his way. Ben sighed all furrowed brows and with disappointed eyes, and walked past him in a huff.

“You should have at least told someone where you were going,”

“If I had told someone,” Klaus said holding up a finger. “They would have just told Five, and that would have completely defeated the purpose of all of this.” Klaus tried to wait until his siblings had gone to bed before sneaking out of the house, but it was after midnight and Five and Diego were still awake. 

He knew counting on Five to fall asleep was going to be a long shot. Klaus still wasn’t sure when Five actually slept, but he usually was hunched over his desk all night, writing out equations Klaus didn’t understand or obsessing over Reginald’s journals. Five was up and active tonight though, fluttering around the house with nervous energy Klaus knew well. 

He finally got his chance once it seemed Five and Diego weren’t leaving the kitchen any time soon. Diego was making food while Five made another pot of coffee. They were both tense and seemed to be having some kind of discussion that Klaus wanted no part of judging by the angry expressions on both their faces. Whatever the problem was, Klaus took advantage and slipped out the front door without them noticing.

“Maybe Five would want to help,” Ben said as they made their way around three trees with branches that had gnarled together in an endless loop of bark and leaves. 

“The point of all this is to not get Five’s hopes up,” Klaus reminded him, stepping around the mess of trees. “He doesn’t get to know about this until I’m sure I can do it.” 

Finding Tex’s family without their names was going to be tricky, but Klaus was hoping not impossible. Reginald had told him that he’d only scratched the surface of what he could do. Until two weeks ago, Klaus hadn’t known he could manifest ghosts the way he did. Not only had he made Ben visible to everyone, but his powers were also able to physically impact the things around them. 

“Maybe you should at least be doing this back at the house,” Ben suggested. “Because you know the second someone realizes you’re gone, Five is going to be pissed.”

Klaus snorted. “Five is always pissed.”

Stopping for a moment, he swiveled his head around. The space Vanya had been using for practice was around here somewhere. It was a small clearing about a mile from the house. They hadn’t been walking for long but Klaus was sure they were far enough in the woods.

“It would be safer if--”

“I’m not doing this back there,” Klaus snapped. “I’m not bringing ghosts into Allison’s house, not if I can help it.” 

Ever since the night at the Icarus Theatre, the ghosts had kept more of a distance than they ever had before. Never before had Klaus been this free of their constant screams, not without the assistance of drugs or alcohol. Even in those first couple days, before Vanya had woken up and uncertainty hung in the air, the many ghosts that walked the woods stayed just out of sight. Trying to conjure Dave in the backyard was one thing, but Klaus knew who he was looking for when he did that. This was throwing the door open and just hoping the right one comes forward. There was no way Klaus would risk the safety of Allison’s house to whatever could go wrong if he fucked this up.

“Anway,” Klaus said, finally deciding on which way to go. “Five has been killing himself to keep all of us safe. I can at least do this for him.” 

In those few seconds that Klaus had convinced himself that Five was dead, he realized what an asshole he’d been the past few days. He’d shrugged off the agents coming after them as if it wasn’t the real problem. He thought they could hide out for a few weeks, keep their heads down, and eventually, the Commission would get bored. They would go off to find themselves some other apocalypse to toy with, and Klaus and his siblings would finally be safe. Klaus had let his new-found excitement over his growing powers cloud the danger that they are all still in. 

Worst of all, he had done the same thing to Five that everyone had done to him for his entire life. He’d dismissed Five’s nagging and constant vigilance as Five finally losing his mind. 

“It’s nice that you want to do this,” Ben said, sounding genuine of that. “But if this goes wrong-”

“Jesus Ben,” Klaus snapped, spinning around to face him. “We already lost him once, just back off.” Finally, Ben didn’t have a response, and Klaus moved past him to continue through the trees. 

Klaus’s heart picked up as a flash of memory of Five getting shot ripped through his mind. He thought about Vanya, eyes white and about to end the world. He could still feel the panic rolling through him from walking into that cabin and seeing Allison laying in a pool of her own blood. The academy falling down on top of them was still fresh in his mind, and watching as Grace didn’t even try to escape. When he closed his eyes he could still hear the gunfire, the smell of war and death in the air, and Dave whispering in his ear. Sobriety had been the key to unlocking his potential but it had left him with nowhere to hide from the reality of what had happened around him.

Klaus was sober though. He finally tapped into parts of his powers that benefited him for once. There had to be other things he could do that could help them out of this mess before Five got himself killed. Because, fuck, Klaus had  _ missed _ Five. All those years, Five’s disappearance had been this gaping hole inside him that he never allowed himself to acknowledge. Then Five dropped from the sky and because of the apocalypse, Klaus hadn’t even been able to feel happy his brother was back. If there was a way to get Tex off their backs so Five could finally stop the Commission, Klaus didn’t care about risk. He was just going to do it.

Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

Finally making it to the clearing, Klaus stepped out into the middle of the six foot area and looked around. What was supposed to be a play area for Claire had been transformed into training grounds. A few stumps surrounded a fire pit and a lone picnic table was used to set up targets for Vanya to focus her power on. There was a lantern on the table and Klaus lit it, glad for the extra light, and set down the small flashlight he’d been carrying. 

In between the trees he could see the ghosts as they crept up curiously. Almost like they knew he actually needed their help, they showed a level of patience Klaus wasn’t used too.

“Alright everyone,” Klaus said rubbing his hands together. “Let’s--” A twig snapping behind him stopped everything Klaus was about to stay. Closing his eyes and shaking his head. Of course Five followed him. 

“Five, look I can explain-” Turning around, Klaus froze, It wasn’t Five standing there.

“Hello Klaus.” Stepping out from the trees, an older man wearing a suit similar to what Hazel had worn, was pointing a gun right at Klaus. “It’s about time we met.” 

Klaus could practically feel Five fuming inside his brain. This had to be Tex, and of course the one time Klaus snuck away, he ran into the assassin. He was taller than Klaus had expected, though Klaus hadn’t been expecting much, and his greying hair and lines around his eyes made him look older than Five had described him. His suit was wrinkled and hair hung a bit down in his eyes. Judging by the few scrapes and bruises sprinkled across his face, he hadn’t gotten away from Vanya’s attack completely unscathed.

“You know, the other Commission agents I met wore funny animal masks,” Klaus said, gesturing wildly around his head. “I have to admit, this is kind of a let down.”

“Costumes and props were never my thing,” Tex shrugged. 

“Klaus,” Ben hissed. “That’s Tex!” Even though Klaus had figured that out on his own, he appreciated the clarity.

“So you’re Tex?” he asked, leaning back against the picnic table. “You fucked up my brother’s car, he’s really pissed.”

“It wasn’t personal,” Tex said calmly, taking a step forward.

“Right,” Klaus smirked. “Just like my sister knocking you on your ass wasn't personal. Thought you were only supposed to kill me or Five.

“I wasn’t trying to kill them,” Tex frowned, his grip on his gun loosened slightly. “It’s not my fault they were with him, but I’m glad they didn’t get hurt.”

“Oh, you’re like one of those bad guys with a heart of gold,” Klaus snorted. “You know, you don’t have to do this. Five  _ does _ have a plan to bring the Commission down.” At least Klaus hoped he did. Five hadn’t told him anything that they had planned. He’d hardly said two words to Klaus the entire day. 

“Bringing down the Commission isn’t possible,” Tex said, the gun in his hands began to waver slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, Klaus saw Ben come closer, his eyes never leaving Tex. “Five’s fighting a losing battle, he always has been.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Klaus said. “Trust me, he’s a stubborn little asshole. If he says he’s gonna do something, it’s happening.” 

“Well even if he can, it won’t matter.” Tex snorted. “I gave him time to figure this all out and now the chance to save  _ my family _ is slipping away, all because he can’t get his act together and finish his goddamn job!” As Tex’s voice raised, the gun jerked back up, his finger hovering over the trigger. 

“It’s funny you mention your family,” Klaus said, stepping towards the gun pointed at him.

“Klaus-” Ben warned, but Klaus waved him off.

“I can help you,” he said, standing fully in front of Tex now. “I can conjure your wife for you, your kids too if you just tell me their names.” It was hard to see his face clearly in the dark, but Klaus could see the tears in Tex’s eyes, the desperation as he took another step closer to Klaus.

“Don’t do that,” he whispered. “Don’t fool around about that.” 

“I’m not,” Klaus said, holding his hands out to him in surrender. “I can do that and I’m sure she wouldn’t want you to--”

_ “Don’t!” _ Tex shouted, the gun cocking back as he stepped forward again, the few feet between them was closing fast. “Don’t you dare speak for her. You don’t know her, you don’t know what she would want.”

“Make me visible,” Ben cut in, standing anxiously at his side. “I can get rid of this guy.” Klaus nodded. If getting this guy’s family to help wasn’t going to work, they were left with no other option. Clechning his hands into fits, Klaus tried, but the blue only flickered in his hands for a moment. 

Shit.

“Don’t you want to see her though?” Klaus said, trying to hide his sudden stress. He tried again but not even a spark happened this time. It had been hours since he made Ben visible. Had those 20 minutes with Luther and Allison really exhausted his powers this much? He thought he’d been getting better, but of course, the time he needed this to work, his powers failed him.

“I will see her again,” Tex promised, leveling his gun at Klaus’s head. “Once I kill you both.”

“Alright, let’s say you do kill me,” Klaus shrugged, making a point not to look at the gun. “Five is gonna be pissed. I don’t mean to brag or anything, but I am his  _ favorite _ brother. And let’s face it, Five is kind of a psychopath, do you really think you’ll get close enough to kill him?” He clenched his fist again, he could feel the cold snap of something happening, but it wouldn’t come to the surface.

“I intended to kill him first,” Tex said, the gun in his grip drooping a little, his tone shifted to something almost conversational. “But I’m running out of time, and you’re right here, all on your own.” 

“What do you mean?” Klaus asked, ignoring the look he’d got from Ben.  _ Obviously _ coming out here had been a mistake, he didn’t need Ben to tell him that. He tried again with his powers, but still nothing. The best he could do was buy himself some time. “Why are you running out of time?” 

“The only way they’re going to let me get back to my family is if I kill you both in the next 5 hours,” Tex explained. “After I kill you I’m heading straight to that house and blowing it up.” Klaus’s heart stopped and for a moment he met Ben’s surprised face with his own.

“Whoa, hey now, just wait a second,” Klaus sputtered. “You said you didn’t want to kill the others.”

“It’s not my fault if they’re in the house,” Tex reasoned.

“Blowing up the house though?” Klaus stressed. “That’s a bit much, maybe we could dial back and just-- There has to be something else we can come up with.” 

Looking around helplessly, the ghosts all had looks of terror on their faces.  _ He’s going to kill you. _ They were screaming out to him. Klaus fisted his hands again, focusing on that cold, dead hole inside of him but again, nothing happened. Tex pointed the gun to Klaus’s face again, and Klaus caught the look in his eyes. There was no doubt, no regret or shame, just grim determination and nothing left to lose.

“No, no, you were right before. You should go ahead and kill me,” Klaus said, ignoring that selfish part of his brain that was screaming at him to run away and save himself. 

“Klaus,” Ben hissed. “What are you doing?”

“I won’t run or fight back,” Klaus continued, ignoring him. Tex’s hold on the gun didn’t loosen but he squinted curiously at Klaus. “I’ll give you this one freebie if you promise not to blow up that house.” Klaus held his hands up again, palms out in full surrender and he stepped closer to Tex.

“Klaus!” Ben called out, but Klaus kept his attention in front of him.

“Then all you need to do is go there and tell Five what you did,” Klaus explained. “There’s no need to blow up the whole house to get to him. You just have to kill me.” 

He could do this, Klaus thought. It was just a bullet, it probably wouldn’t even hurt. Tex would be satisfied that he killed him and once Five found out what happened, Klaus would be fine and Tex would be dead.  _ Right? _ That was what that little brat on the bike had said? He couldn’t die. Klaus didn’t really understand this part of his powers. Was it even his powers? It made sense when he looked back on his life. The times he should have died, maybe he really was--

“The only way to get the upper hand on Five is with the element of surprise,” Tex said, his voice cutting off Klaus’s thoughts. “Not waltzing up and announcing that I killed his twin brother.”

_ Twin? _

“What?” Klaus asked. Twin? This guy thought they were twins?

“It is commendable I suppose,” Tex shrugged, the gun still firmly pointed at him. “Five offered up his life in exchange for all of you as well; must run in the family.” 

“What do you mean twins?” Klaus asked. “We were just born on the same day, we’re not twins.”

“Klaus,” Ben said, who had gone still at his side. “You should-- you need-- listen.”

“You don’t know?” Tex asked. “Really? Five seemed surprised too. I guess it’s true what they said about Sir Hargreeves, kind of a nut job thing to do to not tell your kids they’re twins.” 

“Wait, Five?” Klaus blinked. Five knew they were twins? Were they twins? How did Tex know? Klaus’s stomach dropped, Five had said that the Commission knew everything about them now, why not know about this?  _ Holy fuck, _ were he and Five twins?

“Why do you think I have both of your names?” Tex asked, taking a step forward, they were only a few feet apart now. “Charlie loves his little games. More than his sister even, so of course he wanted me not just to kill my old partner, whom I actually respect, no I have to kill his twin brother as well.” Tex shook his head and Klaus felt like his was going to explode. 

He and Five were  _ twins? _

“I never wanted to be a killer,” Tex continued, his voice softening just slightly. “This wasn’t the life I had planned for myself. I am sorry that I have to do this, and I’m sorrier that Five isn’t here right now.” 

_ He’s going to kill you! _ The ghosts were screaming but Klaus didn’t hear anything. 

He and Five were twins?

“My boys were twins,” Tex said with a crack in his voice. “The only comfort I have is knowing that they died together. I’m sorry I can’t do the same for you.” Tex’s finger moved to the trigger but Klaus’s mind barely registered it. 

_ Twins? _

_ Klaus! Klaus Klaus! _

“Klaus!” Diego’s voice screamed out from somewhere in the trees and one of his knives flew over Klaus’s shoulder at such a speed he felt the wind against cheek. It flew past Klaus and right into Tex’s hand.

Everything around him started to feel like it was going in slow motion. Tex cried out, blood spurted out of his hand and the gun dropped to the ground. Behind him, Klaus could hear Diego coming closer and the familiar pop of Five’s powers. Tex held his bloody hand gingerly to his chest, his knees buckled slightly and his eyes met Klaus’s. 

Five was his twin?

“Klaus?” Diego called out again, closer now. Klaus stayed where he was, watching as Tex fumbled to his briefcase a few feet back. The gun lay on the ground forgotten. Ben was beside Klaus now, saying words, looking worried, but Klaus didn't hear anything.

As Tex walked away, he heard a pop and a familiar blue light came into Klaus’s vision. Five grunted as he fell onto Klaus’s back, out of nowhere. His brother’s shaking arms wrapped around Klaus’s chest and they were pulled into the void of Five’s powers. Sucked away from reality.

Klaus barely had to time realize what was happening before he was suddenly looking at Allison’s house in front of him. Klaus’s stomach churned and his ears were ringing worse than when the ghosts screamed at him all night. His skin itched as if it had just been stitched back together and his throat burned. Five’s powers were just as unpleasant as he remembered, and this one had been a long jump.

_ Wait. _

Five transported them about a mile. That was too long.

The pressure on his back lessened as Five slipped off and Klaus spun around to see him fall to his knees when he hit the ground. Five was drenched in sweat, pale as a ghost, and blood was dripping out of his nose and down his chin.

“You,” Five’s voice heaved out of him. “Idiot.” Then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Klaus knows! He finally knows! I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for him to know lol! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and more is still to come!! Let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! Here we go!! Are you intrigued? Please let me know what you think and I'll see you in two weeks!


End file.
